COMPARISON OF BODY-COMPOSITION ASSESSMENTS BY BIOELECTRICAL-IMPEDANCEAND BY ANTHROPOMETRY IN PREMENOPAUSAL CHINESE WOMEN

Fat-free mass (FFM) was estimated in forty-seven premenopausal Chinese women, aged 18-43 years, from anthropometric data (skinfolds, body ma ss index (weight/height2; BMI)) or bioelectrical impedance, using seve ral prediction formulas for body composition from the literature, and values compared with the mean of these three individual methods used a s a frame of reference. In thirty-six women these values could be comp ared with FFM calculated from total body water (TBW) determined by D2O dilution. The prediction formulas used were developed from studies on Caucasian adults and their validity will have to be shown in populati ons with different ethnic backgrounds. The mean difference between FFM predicted from BMI and the frame of reference was 0.1 kg (95% confide nce interval (CI) -0.1, 0.4), from bioelectrical impedance it was 0.5 kg (95% CI 0.3, 0.7), and from skinfolds it was -0.6 kg (95 % CI -0.9, -0.4). The mean difference between FFM calculated from TBW and the fr ame of reference was higher (2.2 kg, 95 % CI 1.2, 3.3). The results of the present study indicate that the three methods may be valid for pr edicting body composition in adult Chinese females, but further resear ch is needed on development and cross-validation of prediction equatio ns for body composition for Chinese.