The DOI matches its Crossref record; 23 of the 23 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Body fat and fat-free mass inter-relationships: Forbes's theory revisited
Open accessAbstract
A theoretical equation was developed by Forbes that quantifies the fat-free proportion of a weight change as a function of the initial body fat. However, Forbes's equation was strictly valid only for infinitesimal weight changes. Here, I extended Forbes's equation to account for the magnitude and direction of macroscopic body weight changes. The new equation was also re-expressed in terms of an alternative representation of body composition change defined by an energy partitioning parameter called the P-ratio. The predictions of the resulting equations compared favourably with data from human underfeeding and overfeeding experiments and accounted for previously unexplained trends in the data. The magnitude of the body weight change had a relatively weak effect on the predicted body composition changes and the results were very similar to Forbes's original equation for modest weight changes. However, for large weight changes, such as the massive weight losses found in patients following bariatric surgery, Forbes's original equation consistently underestimated the fat-free mass loss, as expected. The new equation that accounts for the magnitude of the weight loss provides better predictions of body composition changes in such patients.
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“However, this percentage is not a constant and is expected to trend higher in people rapidly experiencing large weight reductions, as observed after bariatric surgery.”
From Strategies for minimizing muscle loss during use of incretin‐mimetic drugs for treatment of obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [40]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hall, K. D.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Hall, Kevin D.
- ORCID
- Hall, Kevin D.
- Venue
- British Journal of Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2007-06
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1059-1063
- ISSN
- 0007-1145 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2662
- PMC
- PMC2376748
- OpenAlex
- W2127115822
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 3.12
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- British Journal Of Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Z01DK013036)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Keywords
- fat mass, fat-free mass, body composition changes, weight change, energy allocation, underfeeding, overfeeding, bariatric surgery, weight loss
- MeSH terms
- Adipose Tissue, Body Composition, Female, Humans, Models, Biological, Weight Gain, Weight Loss
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