Body composition evaluation

The evaluation of body composition is used in various sectors such as medicine, anthropology, ergonomics, sport and auxology.

Great interest is placed in the quantification of body fat in relation to the STATE OF HEALTH and SPORT PERFORMANCE

Body composition evaluation is also used for:

Identify the patient's health risk associated with excessively high or low levels of FM

Identify the patient's health risk associated with excessive accumulation of intra-abdominal fat

Monitor changes in body composition that are associated with certain diseases

Changes in proportions during growth and aging

Evaluate the effect of nutrition and exercise

Estimate the desirable body weight of a subject.

Evaluating body composition means measuring the different components that make up the body. The evaluation of body composition can be done at different levels from the simplest (atomic) to the most complex (whole body) passing through intermediate levels (molecular, cellular and tissue).

The most studied level and that finds major applications in medicine and in physical activity is the molecular or chemical level.

Each level can be divided into different compartments or components. For example the molecular level can be divided into: adipose tissue + water + bones + residual component (4-compartment model). It is possible to measure the same level more simply by using a model with only two compartments (fat mass + fat-free lean mass). This last model is the most used.

TERMINOLOGY:

FM (fat mass) = the total amount of lipids in the human body that can be extracted with ether

FFM (fat free mass or fat free) = all that remains of the body after removing the fat mass (bones, muscles, water and organs)

LBM (lean body mass) = the sum of the fat-free lean mass (FFM) + the primary fat or essential lipids