ASSESSMENT
OF CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENT BODY COMPOSITION
Pietrobelli Angelo1, 2, Faith Myles
S2. 1Pediatric Clinic, “GB’ Rossi” Hospital, Verona
University, Verona, (ITALY), 2Obesity Research Center, St.
Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital, Columbia University College of Physicians and
Surgeons, New York, USA
Quantifying the main body
components is integral to the study of growth, and the assessment of human
physical characteristics is important both in the anthropological and
medical fields. Body composition is influenced by endogenous and
environmental factors, and is a valid indicator of pathological changes
especially when diagnosing obesity and other nutritional disorders (i.e.:
bulimia and anorexia) in humans. Studies of body composition and various risk
factors in growing children should have important implications for
preventive medicine. Why is
there such concern with pediatric obesity independent of adulthood obesity?
The reason may be the increasing prevalence of pediatric obesity in the
United States and European countries. Even in developing and newly
industrialized countries, the increasing prevalence of childhood obesity is
pronounced. This rising obesity prevalence is a concern given the health
risks associated with pediatric obesity, including elevated blood pressure,
glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemias and cardiac disease.
Accurate assessment of body composition is therefore essential for obesity
and nutrition-related research.
The
aim of this talk is to describe and discuss methods for pediatric body
composition assessment. We divide our discussion into three sections. The
first section discusses several cutting-edge methods that are primarily
available to research centers. The second section reviews low cost,
practical methods for estimating body composition. Specifically, we will
focus on three methods that can be used in everyday practice: body mass
index (BMI), skinfold measurements, and bioimpedance analysis (BIA).
Finally, we examine the usefulness of body composition assessment in order
to establish an individual child’s health.