Abstract
BackgroundIncreasing attention has been drawn on the assessment of body composition phenotypes, since the distribution of soft tissue influences cardio-metabolic risk. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a validated technique to assess body composition. European reference values from population-based cohorts are rare.AimsTo provide age- and sex-related reference values of body composition parameters and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass, and for lean mass index (LMI) with regard to fat mass index (FMI) quantities and BMI categories.MethodsGE-Lunar Prodigy DXA scans of 10.894 participants, aged 18–81 years, recruited from 2011 to 2019 by the Austrian LEAD study, a population-based cohort study, have been used to construct reference curves using the LMS method. Parameters assessed are FMI, LMI, appendicular LMI, fat mass ratios android/gynoid and trunk/limbs, and VAT.ResultsAll lean mass and fat mass parameters indicating central fat accumulation were higher in men, whereas other fat mass indices were higher in women. LMI differed between each FMI subgroup (low vs. normal, low vs. high, normal vs. high), and BMI category in all ages and LMI increased with FMI and BMI classes. VAT mass was higher in men compared with women and increased across all age groups within both sexes.ConclusionThe present study provides age- and sex-related reference values for European adults aged 18–81 years for body composition parameters and VAT mass for Lunar Prodigy DXA. In addition, this study reports LMI reference values with regard to fat mass quantities, showing a positive association with increasing FMI percentiles and BMI categories.
Highlights
IntroductionDual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a validated tool to investigate body composition phenotypes [2,3,4] as it precisely analyses the amount of bone mineral content (BMC) and soft tissue (FM and lean mass (LM)) of the whole body and specific anatomical regions [1, 5]
Supplementary information The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Wagner Hospital, Vienna, Austria 5 Department of Mathematics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland 6 Department of Research and Education, CIRO, Horn, the NetherlandsThe human body is often described as a three-compartment model, consisting of the tissue components fat mass (FM), lean mass (LM), and bone mineral content (BMC) [1], with individually different proportions, resulting in diverse body composition phenotypes
Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a validated tool to investigate body composition phenotypes [2,3,4] as it precisely analyses the amount of BMC and soft tissue (FM and LM) of the whole body and specific anatomical regions [1, 5]
Summary
Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is a validated tool to investigate body composition phenotypes [2,3,4] as it precisely analyses the amount of BMC and soft tissue (FM and LM) of the whole body and specific anatomical regions [1, 5]. In the last years, increasing attention has been drawn on the assessment of body composition phenotypes, since the distribution of soft tissue, in particular FM, negatively influences the cardio-metabolic risk of individuals [10, 11]. Increasing attention has been drawn on the assessment of body composition phenotypes, since the distribution of soft tissue influences cardio-metabolic risk. Aims To provide age- and sex-related reference values of body composition parameters and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) mass, and for lean mass index (LMI) with regard to fat mass index (FMI) quantities and BMI categories. Parameters assessed are FMI, LMI, appendicular LMI, fat mass ratios android/gynoid and trunk/limbs, and VAT
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