Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Dietary Prevention of Obesity-related Disease Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #124730
Title: BODY COMPOSITION ESTIMATES FROM NHANES III BIOELECTRICAL IMPEDANCE DATA

Author
item CHUMLEA, WM - WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
item GUO, SHUMEI - WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY
item KUCZMARSKI, ROBERT - US PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
item FLEGAL, KATHERINE - US PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
item JOHNSON, CLIFFORD - US PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
item HEYMSFIELD, STEVEN - COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
item Lukaski, Henry
item FRIEDL, KARL - US ARMY
item HUBBARD, VAN - NATL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH

Submitted to: International Journal of Obesity
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/1/2002
Publication Date: 12/1/2002
Citation: Chumlea, W.C., Guo, S.S., Kuczmarski, R.J., Flegal, K.M., Johnson, C.L., Heymsfield, S.B., Lukaski, H.C., Friedl, K., Hubbard, V. 2002. Body composition estimates from NHANES III bioelectrical impedance data. International Journal of Obesity. 26(12):1596-1609.

Interpretive Summary: Normative data for the evaluation of the body composition of an individual are currently not available. Population-based estimates of fat free mass and body fatness are needed to calculate the prevalence and to analyze trends in obesity, muscle loss with aging and other health conditions. We used a previously validated bioelectrical impedance model to predict body composition of 17,951 children and adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) and developed an age- and sex-related pattern of fat free mass and body fatness for non Hispanic whites and blacks. Body fatness increased steadily in males from 12 to 80 years of age. Among females, body fatness increased up to age 50 years then stabilized. These data provide the first large scale description of body composition from adolescence to late adulthood, and give ranges of normal values by sex and age. This information will be useful to public health professionals and physicians who seek to counsel individuals on appropriat body composition for health and to monitor effects of diet and activity interventions to attain a healthful body composition.

Technical Abstract: Body composition estimates for the US population are important in order to calculate the prevalence and analyze trends in obesity, sarcopenia and other health conditions. National body composition estimates have not been previously available. The objective is to use transformed bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) data in sex-specific, multicomponent model-derived dprediction formulae, to estimate total body water (TBW), fat-free mass (FFM), total body fat (TBF), and percent body fat (%BF) using a nationally- representative sample of the US population. Anthropometric and BIA data were from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III; 1988-94). Sex-specific BIA prediction equations developed for this study were applied to the NHANES data, and mean values for TBW, FFM, TBF, and %B were estimated for selected age, sex, and racial-ethnic groups. Among 17,951 non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican-American participants ages 12 to 80 years examined in NHANES III, 15,912 had data available for weight, stature and BIA resistance measures. Males had higher mean TBW and FFM than did females, regardless of age or racial-ethnic status. Mean FFM and TBW increased from the adolescent years to mid- adulthood and declined in older adult age groups. Females had higher mean TBF estimates than males at each age group. Mean TBF also increased with older age groups to approximately 60 years of age after which it decreased. These body composition estimates based upon NHANES III BIA data provide descriptive mean estimates for TBW, FFM, TBF and %B for non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans in the US population.