Body Composition Measurements from Birth through 5 Years: Challenges, Gaps, and Existing & Emerging Technologies-A National Institutes of Health workshop

Dympna Gallagher; Aline Andres; David A Fields; William J Evans; Robert Kuczmarski; William L Lowe Jr; Julie C Lumeng; Emily Oken; John A Shepherd; Shumei Sun; Steven B Heymsfield

doi:10.1111/obr.13033

Body Composition Measurements from Birth through 5 Years: Challenges, Gaps, and Existing & Emerging Technologies-A National Institutes of Health workshop

Obes Rev. 2020 Aug;21(8):e13033. doi: 10.1111/obr.13033. Epub 2020 Apr 20.

Authors

Dympna Gallagher^{1

2}, Aline Andres³, David A Fields⁴, William J Evans⁵, Robert Kuczmarski⁶, William L Lowe Jr⁷, Julie C Lumeng⁸, Emily Oken⁹, John A Shepherd¹⁰, Shumei Sun^{8

11}, Steven B Heymsfield¹²

Affiliations

¹ New York Obesity Research Center, Division of Endocrinology, Dept. of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.
² Institute of Human Nutrition, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York, USA.
³ Arkansas Children's Nutrition Center, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
⁴ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA.
⁵ Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
⁶ Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
⁷ Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
⁸ Department of Pediatrics, Medical School, Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
⁹ Division of Chronic Disease Research Across the Lifecourse, Department of Population Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
¹⁰ Department of Epidemiology and Population Sciences, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
¹¹ Department of Biostatistics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, USA.
¹² Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA.

Abstract

Body composition estimates are widely used in clinical research and field studies as measures of energy-nutrient balance, functionality and health. Despite their broad relevance and multiple applications, important gaps remain in techniques available for accurately and precisely quantifying body composition in infants and children from birth through 5 years. Identifying these gaps and highlighting research needs in this age group were the topics of a National Institutes of Health workshop held in Bethesda, MD, USA, 30-31 May 2019. Experts reviewed available methods (multicompartment models, air-displacement plethysmography, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, weight-length and height indices, bioimpedance analysis, anthropometry-skinfold techniques, quantitative magnetic resonance, optical imaging, omics and D3-creatine dilution), their limitations in this age range and high priority research needs. A summary of their individual and collective workshop deliberations is provided in this report.

Keywords: early childhood phenotyping; growth; nutritional assessment.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Absorptiometry, Photon
Anthropometry / methods*
Body Composition / physiology*
Body Weights and Measures / methods*
Child, Preschool
Electric Impedance
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
Optical Imaging
Plethysmography
United States

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding