Abstract
Body composition measurements by BOD POD account for the effects of trapped isothermal air in hair on the scalp by having the subject wear a swim cap to compress the hair on the head. However, there are no recommendations that account for the effects of trapped isothermal air in hair elsewhere on the body. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of body hair on body composition measurements by BOD POD. To assess the impact of body hair on body composition measurements, BOD POD measurements were performed in two conditions: wearing single layer compression shorts (CS) apparel with a swim cap (recommended by manufacturer) and wearing single layer limb length compression (LC) apparel with the same swim cap. The order of apparel was conducted in random order to avoid any potential order effect. Fifty male college-age males (age 19.96 ± 1.32 years) volunteered to participate in this study. Body density and percent body fat were calculated from BOD POD measurements of body mass and body volume. Wearing single layer limb length compression apparel to compress body hair increased body mass by an average of 0.67 lb. (±0.05). Compared to wearing only compression shorts, covering exposed body hair resulted in a reduction in body volume measures; thus, body density was calculated as higher in the LC apparel condition. The mean percentage of body fat in the LC condition (13.99 ± 6.64%) was significantly lower than the mean percentage of body fat in the CS condition (16.76 ± 6.27%, p < 0.001). The results of this investigation demonstrate that covering exposed body hair by wearing single layer limb-length compression apparel can result in significantly different measurements of percent body fat in college-age males. These findings indicate that air displacement plethysmography for males while wearing limb-length compression apparel resulted in a lower assessment of body fat by an average of 2.77 percent. Based on the findings of this investigation, body hair needs to be accounted for when percent body fat is being assessed by BOD POD.
Highlights
Body composition is a factor that affects physical health and sports performance [1]
This is the first investigation to examine the effect of body hair on males on BOD POD measurements
Measurements in the two different apparel schemes (CS vs. layer compression apparel (LC)) were compared to determine the impact of exposed body hair on males on estimates of percent body fat determined by the BOD POD
Summary
Body composition is a factor that affects physical health and sports performance [1]. Air-displacement plethysmograph (ADP) is a noninvasive, safe and quick method of assessing body composition [5, 6]. The BOD POD body composition system (Life Measurement Instrument, Concord, CA) is a commercially available system that uses ADP for body composition assessment and the estimation of percent body fat [7]. Ease of use for the subject, only a basic level of technical expertise required of the investigator, along with quick results are additional advantages of using the BOD POD for body composition measurements [4, 8, 9]. Previous research supports the reliability of estimates of body composition by the BOD POD [2, 5, 6, 8, 15,16,17,18]
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