Comparison of Methods to Assess Body Composition Changes during a Period of Weight Loss
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To assess the accuracy of body composition measurements by air displacement plethysmography and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) compared with DXA during weight loss. Research Methods and Procedures: Fifty‐six healthy but overweight participants, 34 women and 22 men (age, 52 ± 8.6 years; weight, 92.2 ± 11.6 kg; BMI, 33.3 ± 2.9 kg/m 2) were studied in an outpatient setting before and after 6 months of weight loss (weight loss, 5.6 ± 5.5 kg). Subjects were excluded if they had initiated a new drug therapy within 30 days of randomization, were in a weight loss program, or took a weight loss drug within 90 days of randomization. Subjects were randomly assigned either to a self‐help program, consisting of two 20‐minute sessions with a nutritionist and provision of printed materials and other self‐help resources, or to attendance at meetings of a commercial program (Weight Watchers). Body composition was examined by each of the methods before and after weight loss. Results: BIA (42.4 ± 5.8%) underestimated percentage fat, whereas the BodPod (Siri = 51.7 ± 6.9%; Brozek = 48.5 ± 6.5%) overestimated percentage fat compared with DXA (46.1 ± 7.9%) before weight loss. Correlation coefficients for detecting changes in body composition between DXA and the other methods were relatively high, with Brozek Δfat mass (FM; r2 = 0.63), Siri FM (r2 = 0.65), tetrapolar BIA percentage fat (r2 = 0.57), and Tanita FM (r2 = 0.61) being the highest. Discussion: In conclusion, all of the methods were relatively accurate for assessing body composition compared with DXA, although there were biases. Furthermore, each of the methods was sensitive enough to detect changes with weight loss.
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In the authors' laboratory, DXA coefficients of variation were 0.25% for weight, 1.0% for lean mass, 1.6% for fat mass, and 1.5% for percentage fat.
“Data from our laboratory show that the coefficient of variation for weight was 0.25%, lean mass was 1.0%, 1.6% for fat mass, and 1.5% for percentage fat (18).”
From Comparison of Body Composition Methods in Obese African‐American Women (2006) · cites this paper as [18]
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- Authors
- Frisard, M. I., Greenway, F. L., & DeLany, J. P.
- Affiliations
- Pennington Biomedical Research Center (US)
- Corresponding author
- DeLany, James P.
- Venue
- Obesity Research
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2005-05
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 845-854
- ISSN
- 1071-7323 (ISSN-L)
- 1550-8528
- OpenAlex
- W1966128435
- Cited by
- 153
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 5.39
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Obesity Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Keywords
- body composition, weight loss, air displacement plethysmography, bioelectrical impedance analysis, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, method accuracy, Weight Watchers, overweight adults
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Body Composition, False Negative Reactions, False Positive Reactions, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Plethysmography, Regression Analysis, Sensitivity and Specificity, Weight Loss, Absorptiometry, Photon, Body Mass Index, Electric Impedance
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