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  • Original Article
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Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Comparison of body adiposity index (BAI) and air displacement plethysmograph with estimations of % body fat in adults with Down’s syndrome

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 71, pages 1341–1344 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

The aim of this study was to verify the agreement between body fat percentage (%BF) values evaluated by air displacement plethysmograph (ADP) and body adiposity index (BAI) in adults with Down’s syndrome (DS).

Subjects/Methods:

Forty-five adults with DS volunteered to participate in this study (19 women; age 28.7±8.5 years and 26 men; age 29.1±8.8 years). The %BF was measured by ADP (%BFADP) and estimated by anthropometric measures [%BF=(hip circumference/height)1.5−18] (%BFBAI). Agreement between methods was evaluated by paired t-test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Bland–Altman analysis.

Results:

Although high correlation coefficients were found between %BFADP and %BFBAI for women (r=0.78, P<0.05) and men (r=0.87, P<0.05), significant differences were observed between methods for both sexes (38.9±8.9 vs 42.5±8.5% for women, and 25.8±11.3 vs 32.6±5.4% for men in %BFADP and %BFBAI, respectively). Moreover, Bland–Altman analysis showed that the mean error estimate was +3.6 (95%CI, −7.59 to 14.79) in women and +6.74 (95%CI, −7.25 to 20.72) in men.

Conclusions:

The results indicate that BAI seems to be a limited method to evaluate %BF in women and in men with DS.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculdade de Educação Física e Fisioterapia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil

    M Rossato, E de Souza Bezerra, R M da Costa & J O L dos Santos

  2. Laboratório de Biomecânica, Centro de Desportos, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    M Rossato, R A Dellagrana, E de Souza Bezerra & F Diefenthaeler

  3. Departamento de Educação Física, Centro de Desportos, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    D A S Silva

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  1. M Rossato
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  2. R A Dellagrana
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Correspondence to M Rossato.

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Rossato, M., Dellagrana, R., de Souza Bezerra, E. et al. Comparison of body adiposity index (BAI) and air displacement plethysmograph with estimations of % body fat in adults with Down’s syndrome. Eur J Clin Nutr 71, 1341–1344 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2017.18

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