USE OF BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCE ANALYSIS MEASUREMENTS AS AN EVALUATIONFOR PARTICIPATING IN SPORTS

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) has potential in the area of sp orts and exercise as a method for evaluating body composition in group s of athletes. BIA probably holds less promise for detecting small cha nges in percentage fat within an individual. Available data in athlete s have indicated an urgent need to control for testing conditions such as hydration, temperature, glycogen stores, and preceding diet and ex ercise. There are almost no data available for female athletes, but ac ceptable results have been reported in males when conditions are well controlled. There is, however, a tendency for BIA to overestimate perc entage body fat, and more so in African American athletes. BIA is also potentially useful for assessing the hydration status in wrestlers, b ut it is advisable to use untransformed BIA measurements rather than t o convert resistance measurements to body fat because of the questiona ble hydration status in these athletes. Untransformed results are pote ntially useful in evaluating the clinical status of athletes at risk f or abnormal hydration because of extreme dieting practices.