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Validation of anthropometry and foot-to-foot bioelectrical resistance against a three-component model to assess total body fat in children: the IDEFICS study

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 520–526 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To compare different field methods for estimating body fat mass with a reference value derived by a three-component (3C) model in pre-school and school children across Europe.

Design:

Multicentre validation study.

Subjects:

Seventy-eight preschool/school children aged 4–10 years from four different European countries.

Methods:

A standard measurement protocol was carried out in all children by trained field workers. A 3C model was used as the reference method. The field methods included height and weight measurement, circumferences measured at four sites, skinfold measured at two–six sites and foot-to-foot bioelectrical resistance (BIA) via TANITA scales.

Results:

With the exception of height and neck circumference, all single measurements were able to explain at least 74% of the fat-mass variance in the sample. In combination, circumference models were superior to skinfold models and height–weight models. The best predictions were given by trunk models (combining skinfold and circumference measurements) that explained 91% of the observed fat-mass variance. The optimal data-driven model for our sample includes hip circumference, triceps skinfold and total body mass minus resistance index, and explains 94% of the fat-mass variance with 2.44 kg fat mass limits of agreement. In all investigated models, prediction errors were associated with fat mass, although to a lesser degree in the investigated skinfold models, arm models and the data-driven models.

Conclusion:

When studying total body fat in childhood populations, anthropometric measurements will give biased estimations as compared to gold standard measurements. Nevertheless, our study shows that when combining circumference and skinfold measurements, estimations of fat mass can be obtained with a limit of agreement of 1.91 kg in normal weight children and of 2.94 kg in overweight or obese children.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the members of the study teams, and especially the children and their parents for their enthusiastic participation in the study. This work was done as part of the IDEFICS Study (www.idefics.eu). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the European Community within the sixth RTD Framework Programme under contract no. 016181 (FOOD). MW Peeters, T De Vriendt and I Sioen are financially supported by the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO). B Tubic is financially supported by the New Research Amanuensis programme for medical students at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Human and Health Sciences, Institute for Public Health and Nursing Research (IPP), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    K Bammann

  2. BIPS Institute for Epidemiology and Prevention Research, Bremen, Germany

    K Bammann & N Wawro

  3. Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    I Huybrechts, T De Vriendt & I Sioen

  4. Dietary Exposure Assessment Group, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France

    I Huybrechts

  5. Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development (GENUD) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    G Vicente-Rodriguez, M I Mesana & L A Moreno

  6. Institute for Clinical Exercise and Health Science, University of the West of Scotland, Hamilton, UK

    C Easton

  7. Research Foundation—Flanders, Brussels, Belgium

    T De Vriendt, M W Peeters & I Sioen

  8. Department of Paediatrics, Institute for Clinical Sciences, The Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, The Sahlgrenska Academy at University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    S Marild & B Tubic

  9. Department of Kinesiology, Research Centre for Exercise and Health, Faculty of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Sciences KU, Leuven, Belgium

    M W Peeters

  10. School of Psychological Science & Health, University of Strathclyde, Strathclyde, UK

    J J Reilly

  11. Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, UK

    J C Wells

  12. Department of Human Biology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    K Westerterp

  13. College of Medicine, Veterinary & Life Sciences, Institute of Cardiovascular & Medical Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Y Pitsiladis

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Correspondence to K Bammann.

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Bammann, K., Huybrechts, I., Vicente-Rodriguez, G. et al. Validation of anthropometry and foot-to-foot bioelectrical resistance against a three-component model to assess total body fat in children: the IDEFICS study. Int J Obes 37, 520–526 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2013.13

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