Techniques For Assessment Of Body Composition In Health

Body composition assessment is an important tool in both clinical and research settings able to characterize the nutritional status of individuals in various physiologic and pathologic conditions. Health care professionals can use the information acquired by body composition analysis for the prevention and treatment of diseases, ultimately improving health status. Here we describe commonly used techniques to assess body composition in healthy individuals, including dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, bioelectrical impedance analysis, air displacement plethysmography, and ultrasonography. Understanding the key underlying concept(s) of each assessment method, as well as its advantages and limitations, facilitates selection of the method of choice and the method of the compartment of interest. This review contains 5 figures, 3 tables and 52 references Key words: air displacement plethysmography, bioelectrical impedance analysis, body composition, disease, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, health, muscle mass, nutritional status, obesity, sarcopenia, ultrasound fat mass