The Importance of Hydration in Body Composition Assessment in Children Aged 6-16 Years
Publication: Journal of Clinical Densitometry
Watson, L., Carr, K., Orford, E. and Venables, M.
15 December 2020
Body composition is associated with many noncommunicable diseases.
The accuracy of many simple techniques used for the assessment of body composition is influenced by the fact that they do not take into account tissue hydration and this can be particularly problematic in paediatric populations.
This study looked at DXA systems for determining total and regional (arms, legs, trunk) fat, lean, and bone mass and compared lean soft tissue (LST) hydration correction methods in 124 children aged between 6 and 16 years old.
The study showed that care needs to be exercised when combining data from iDXA and Prodigy, as total and regional estimates of body composition can differ significantly.
Furthermore, tissue hydration should be taken into account when assessing body composition as it can vary considerably within a healthy paediatric population even within specific age and/or sex groups.
