Total-body skeletal muscle mass: development and cross-validation of anthropometric prediction models
Open accessAbstract
Background Skeletal muscle (SM) is a large body compartment of biological importance, but it remains difficult to quantify SM with affordable and practical methods that can be applied in clinical and field settings. Objective The objective of this study was to develop and cross-validate anthropometric SM mass prediction models in healthy adults. Design SM mass, measured by using whole-body multislice magnetic resonance imaging, was set as the dependent variable in prediction models. Independent variables were organized into 2 separate formulas. One formula included mainly limb circumferences and skinfold thicknesses [model 1: height (in m) and skinfold-corrected upperarm, thigh, and calf girths (CAG, CTG, and CCG, respectively; in cm)]. The other formula included mainly body weight (in kg) and height (model 2). The models were developed and cross-validated in nonobese adults [body mass index (in kg/m(2)) < 30]. Results Two SM (in kg) models for nonobese subjects (n = 244) were developed as follows: SM = Ht x (0.00744 x CAG(2) + 0.00088 x CTG(2) + 0.00441 x CCG(2)) + 2.4 x sex - 0.048 x age + race + 7.8, where R:(2) = 0.91, P: < 0.0001, and SEE = 2.2 kg; sex = 0 for female and 1 for male, race = -2.0 for Asian, 1.1 for African American, and 0 for white and Hispanic, and SM = 0.244 x BW + 7.80 x Ht + 6.6 x sex - 0.098 x age + race - 3.3, where R:(2) = 0.86, P: < 0.0001, and SEE = 2.8 kg; sex = 0 for female and 1 for male, race = -1.2 for Asian, 1.4 for African American, and 0 for white and Hispanic. Conclusion These 2 anthropometric prediction models, the first developed in vivo by using state-of-the-art body-composition methods, are likely to prove useful in clinical evaluations and field studies of SM mass in nonobese adults.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
It is reasonable to conclude that muscle loss accounted for at least half of the reduction in lean mass during the STEP-1 trial.
“However, it is reasonable to conclude that muscle loss accounted for at least half of the reduction in lean mass during the STEP‐1 trial.”
From Strategies for minimizing muscle loss during use of incretin‐mimetic drugs for treatment of obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [36]
Cites
STATISTICAL METHODS FOR ASSESSING AGREEMENT BETWEEN TWO METHODS OF CLINICAL MEASUREMENT
Martin Bland, J., & Altman, D. (1986) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(86)90837-8 · Cited by 47,965 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Skeletal Muscle Cutpoints Associated with Elevated Physical Disability Risk in Older Men and Women
Janssen, I. (2004) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwh058 · Cited by 1,190 · see citing works
Self-citationTotal-body skeletal muscle mass: Estimation by a new dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry method
Kim, J., Wang, Z., Heymsfield, S. B., Baumgartner, R. N., & Gallagher, D. (2002) · The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/76.2.378 · Cited by 737 · see citing works
Self-citationPhomsoupha, M., & Laffaye, G. (2015) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-014-0287-2 · Cited by 539 · see citing works
Pareja‐Blanco, F., Rodríguez‐Rosell, D., Sánchez‐Medina, L., Sanchis‐Moysi, J., Dorado, C., Mora‐Custodio, R., Yáñez‐García, J. M., Morales‐Alamo, D., Pérez‐Suárez, I., Calbet, J. A. L., et al. (2017) · Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports · doi:10.1111/sms.12678 · Cited by 505 · see citing works
Chien, M., Huang, T., & Wu, Y. (2008) · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · doi:10.1111/j.1532-5415.2008.01854.x · Cited by 451 · see citing works
Control of the size of the human muscle mass
Rennie, M. J., Wackerhage, H., Spangenburg, E. E., & Booth, F. W. (2004) · Annual Review of Physiology · doi:10.1146/annurev.physiol.66.052102.134444 · Cited by 399 · see citing works
dos Santos, L., Cyrino, E. S., Antunes, M., Santos, D. A., & Sardinha, L. B. (2017) · Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle · doi:10.1002/jcsm.12160 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Reference Values for Body Composition and Anthropometric Measurements in Athletes
Santos, D. A., Dawson, J. A., Matias, C. N., Rocha, P. M., Minderico, C. S., Allison, D. B., Sardinha, L. B., & Silva, A. M. (2014) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097846 · Cited by 282 · see citing works
Kyle, U. G., Genton, L., Hans, D., & Pichard, C. (2003) · Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1016/s0261-5614(03)00048-7 · Cited by 246 · see citing works
Kim, J., Heshka, S., Gallagher, D., Kotler, D. P., Mayer, L., Albu, J., Shen, W., Freda, P. U., & Heymsfield, S. B. (2004) · Journal of Applied Physiology · doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00260.2004 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Self-citationLee, D. H., Keum, N., Hu, F. B., Orav, E. J., Rimm, E. B., Sun, Q., Willett, W. C., & Giovannucci, E. L. (2017) · British Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s0007114517002665 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Fyfe, J. J., Hamilton, D. L., & Daly, R. M. (2022) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-021-01605-8 · Cited by 172 · see citing works
Mechanotransduction and the regulation of mTORC1 signaling in skeletal muscle
Hornberger, T. A. (2011) · The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology · doi:10.1016/j.biocel.2011.05.007 · Cited by 170 · see citing works
Strategies for minimizing muscle loss during use of incretin‐mimetic drugs for treatment of obesity
Mechanick, J. I., Butsch, W. S., Christensen, S. M., Hamdy, O., Li, Z., Prado, C. M., & Heymsfield, S. B. (2025) · Obesity Reviews · doi:10.1111/obr.13841 · Cited by 149 · see citing works
Self-citationTyrovolas, S., Panagiotakos, D., Georgousopoulou, E., Chrysohoou, C., Tousoulis, D., Haro, J. M., & Pitsavos, C. (2020) · Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health · doi:10.1136/jech-2019-212268 · Cited by 123 · see citing works
Measuring Muscle Mass and Strength in Obesity: a Review of Various Methods
Sizoo, D., de Heide, L. J. M., Emous, M., van Zutphen, T., Navis, G., & van Beek, A. P. (2021) · Obesity Surgery · doi:10.1007/s11695-020-05082-2 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Mirzoev, T. M. (2020) · International Journal of Molecular Sciences · doi:10.3390/ijms21217940 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Fernández-Landa, J., Fernández-Lázaro, D., Calleja-González, J., Caballero-García, A., Córdova Martínez, A., León-Guereño, P., & Mielgo-Ayuso, J. (2020) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu12010193 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Knechtle, B., & Tanda, G. (2013) · Open Access Journal of Sports Medicine · doi:10.2147/oajsm.s44945 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Oral L-Glutamine Pretreatment Attenuates Skeletal Muscle Atrophy Induced by 24-h Fasting in Mice
de Vasconcelos, D. A. A., Giesbertz, P., de Souza, D. R., Vitzel, K. F., Abreu, P., Marzuca-Nassr, G. N., Fortes, M. A. S., Murata, G. M., Hirabara, S. M., Curi, R., et al. (2019) · The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry · doi:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2019.05.010 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
(2012) · Chinese Journal of Physiology · doi:10.4077/cjp.2012.baa010 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
New roles for Smad signaling and phosphatidic acid in the regulation of skeletal muscle mass
Goodman, C. A., & Hornberger, T. A. (2014) · F1000Prime Reports · doi:10.12703/p6-20 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Groves, V., Cornelissen, P., McCarty, K., Mohamed, S., Maalin, N., Tovée, M. J., & Cornelissen, K. (2019) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00720 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Sardinha, L. B., Rosa, G. B., Hetherington-Rauth, M., Correia, I. R., Magalhães, J. P., Silva, A. M., & Lukaski, H. (2023) · European Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1038/s41430-022-01224-0 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Lee, R. C., Wang, Z., Heo, M., Ross, R., Janssen, I., & Heymsfield, S. B.
- Affiliations
- St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center (US)
- Venue
- The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2000-09
- Volume
- 72
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 796-803
- ISSN
- 0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1862719569
- Cited by
- 854
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 38 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 64 · 2023: 70 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 48 · 2018: 38 · 2017: 24 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 32 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 34 · 2012: 40
- FWCI
- 2.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- erratum (2001-05-01)
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (5p01dk042618-15)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK 42618)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Body Composition Measurement Techniques
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Nutrition and Health in Aging
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cell Biology › Muscle metabolism and nutrition
- Keywords
- skeletal muscle mass, anthropometric prediction model, limb circumference, skinfold thickness, non-obese adults, body composition, cross-validation, race and sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anthropometry, Body Composition, Body Height, Evaluation Studies as Topic, Female, Forecasting, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Models, Anatomic, Organ Size, Prospective Studies, Reference Values, Skinfold Thickness, Muscle, Skeletal, Racial Groups
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
