Does body mass index reflect adequately the body fat content in perimenopausal women?
Abstract
Objective To test whether BMI cut-off points for obesity, reflect adequately the actual obesity status, in a sample of perimenopausal women. For study's purposes, a new bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) equation was estimated.Methods 115 Greek, middle-aged women were tested. Body composition was estimated by dual X-ray absorptiometry and BIA method. Waist (WC) and hip circumference (HC) and skinfolds were also measured.Results The BIA equation predicted fat free mass (FFM) from height, weight, age and resistance (R(2)=0.88, S.E.E.=1.89 kg). The bias was not significant and the limits of agreement +/-3.6 kg. BMI, FFM, body fat percentage (BF%), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), WC and HC did not differ between pre (N=37) and postmenopausal (N=48) women (at p=0.05). Both BF% and BMI correlated with WHR and WC (r(BF%-WHR)=0.287, p=0.009; r(BMI-WHR)=0.355, p=0.001 and r(BF%-WC)=0.72, p<0.0001; r(BMI-WC)=0.81, p<0.0001). The mean values for BF%, WC and WHR for women with normal BMI were 36.15% (+/-4.19), 72.53 cm (+/-3.64) and 0.749 (+/-0.05), whereas values for overweight women were 41.42% (+/-3.16), 83.06 cm (+/-7.55) and 0.787 (+/-0.05) and for obese these were 47.40% (+/-3.67), 95.10 cm (+/-8.52) and 0.814 (+/-0.05), respectively.Conclusion The body composition analysis of the study sample revealed undesirably high BF%, even in subjects with BMI below 25, in whom BMI did not reflect the body fat content. However, BF was mainly distributed at the lower part of the body. Whether BMI or BF% is a more sensitive index for obesity related diseases, in perimenopausal period, remains to be defined.
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Concerns with applicability were unclear in 12 studies.
“Concerns with applicability were high in 19 studies [37, 42–59] and unclear [41, 50, 60–69] in 12 studies due to the restricted sample size.”
From High-standard predictive equations for estimating body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis: a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
Concerns with applicability were high in 19 studies.
“Concerns with applicability were high in 19 studies [37, 42–59] and unclear [41, 50, 60–69] in 12 studies due to the restricted sample size.”
From High-standard predictive equations for estimating body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis: a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
The remaining adult studies involved European, Eastern Asian, and Australian populations with a balanced number of male and female participants.
“The remaining studies involved European [50, 52, 71, 77, 101], Eastern Asian [47, 78], and Australian [66] populations with a balanced number of male and female participants.”
From High-standard predictive equations for estimating body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis: a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
Regarding foot-to-hand technology for adults, six equations are suitable for estimating FFM in females.
“Regarding foot-to-hand technology, five equations are suitable for estimating FFM in males [47, 52, 66, 71, 78] and six in females [34, 47, 50, 52, 66, 71].”
From High-standard predictive equations for estimating body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis: a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
Concerning foot-to-hand technology for adults, two equations are suitable for females only.
“Concerning foot to hand technology, 17 equations are available for both sexes [42, 47, 52, 54, 61, 66, 71, 77, 102], while one is suitable for males [78] and two are suitable for females only [34, 50].”
From High-standard predictive equations for estimating body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis: a systematic review (2024) · cites this paper as [50]
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- Authors
- Kontogianni, M. D., Panagiotakos, D. B., & Skopouli, F. N.
- Affiliations
- Harokopio University of Athens (GR)
- Corresponding author
- Skopouli, Fotini N.
- Venue
- Maturitas
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2005-07
- Volume
- 51
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 307-313
- ISSN
- 0378-5122 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2170886051
- Cited by
- 37
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 3 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 1.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Maturitas (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Harokopio University
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Keywords
- body mass index, body fat percentage, perimenopausal women, obesity, bioelectrical impedance analysis, fat-free mass, body composition, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference, hip circumference, skinfold thickness, BMI cut-off points, postmenopausal women, Greek women
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aging, Analysis of Variance, Anthropometry, Body Composition, Female, Humans, Middle Aged, Obesity, Absorptiometry, Photon, Body Mass Index, Electric Impedance, Perimenopause
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