title: DEXA supports the use of BMI as a measure of fatness in young girls.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship of body fat mass measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to BMI in young girls, according to age and normative BMI percentile groupings.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional observation study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Dunedin, an urban town in the South Island of New Zealand.
  
  
  METHODS
  196 healthy Caucasian girls aged 4-16 y.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body weight, height and BMI, total fat mass and % body fat (by DEXA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our BMI percentile standard groupings were < 5 centile (n = 7); 5-50 centile (n = 71); 51-75 centile (n = 50); 76-90 centile (n = 42); 91-95 centile (n = 12); > 95 centile (n = 14). In this whole population sample DEXA-derived fat mass correlates well with BMI (n = 0.934) indicating that BMI accounts for 87.2% of the variance in body fat mass. However, at the extremes of BMI the association is weaker. A nomogram for predicting DEXA fat mass from BMI in girls is presented.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because DEXA-derived fat mass correlates well with BMI throughout the 'normal' range of BMI (5-95th centiles) our study supports the usefulness of BMI as a simple measure of fatness in girls. Children with BMI values outside the normal BMI range may benefit from more exact body composition assessment using DEXA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Otago Medical School, Dunedin, New Zealand.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goulding
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cannan
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Lewis-Barned
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000293:Adolescent; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009520:New Zealand; D012016:Reference Values