Overview of body composition measures

The focus of this guide is dietary assessment; however, measures of body composition, overweight, and obesity often go hand in hand with data and research about diet.

A short summary of body composition measures and some key references are given below.

Goal for measures of body composition

The goal for measures of body composition is to:

• identify or estimate the quantities of different components of the body, such as fat mass (body fat) and lean mass (all mass except fat mass, i.e. muscle, water, bones etc.)

• give an overall indication of body size and body fat e.g. underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese.

There are different advantages and limitations to each assessment method.

Commonly used measures of body composition

Commonly used measures of body composition are:

• weight
• height
• body mass index (BMI)
• abdominal (waist) circumference
• waist-to-height ratio
• skinfold thickness
• bioelectric impedance analysis
• dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA or DEXA).