[Assessment of body fat in physically active young people: anthropometry vs bioimpedance].
OBJECTIVE
To assess the level of agreement between the anthropometrical method and several bioimpedance (BIA) devices to estimate the fat mass in a group of physically active young people.


METHODS
55 students of Physical Activity Sciences and Sports of the INEFC of Barcelona; 29 men (age: 24.7 +/- 4.7 years; BMI: 23.4 +/- 1.8) and 26 women (age: 22.9 +/- 3.5; BMI: 21.5 +/- 1.9). All of them voluntarily gave their informed consent.


METHODS
Anthropometrical assessment was done according to the International Society for the Advancement Kinanthropometry (ISAK) protocol, the fat % was calculated by the Siri's equation and was compared with that obtained by 4 different BIA devices: Biospace Inbody 720, Tanita BC400, Tanita TBF-521, and Omron BF-300. To assess the level of agreement of the results, the interclass correlation coefficient and the Bland Aldman method were used.


RESULTS
The estimated fat mass, in men, by the anthropometrical method was 7 +/- 2.2 kg. The results by the BIA systems were: 7.4 +/- 3 kg; 5.6 +/- 2.2 kg; 5.7 +/- 2.5 kg, and 7.4 +/- 3 kg for Biospace Inbody 720, Tanita BC400, Tanita TBF521, and Omron BF300, respectively. In women, the results were 10.4 +/- 2.7 kg of fat mass by means of the anthropometrical method and 10.3 +/- 2.9 kg, 11 +/- 3.3 kg, 11.5 +/- 3.0 kg, and 10 +/- 2.9 kg for Biospace Inbody 720, Tanita BC400, Tanita TBF521, and Omron BF300, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
In the male group, the level of agreement between anthropometrics and BIA devices was moderate-poor, whereas in women there was a good correlation between both techniques for estimating the body fat when the Biospace Inbody 720 and Tanita BC400 devices were used.
Portao
J
J
Catedrático en Ciencias de la Actividad Física y el Deporte. INEFC. Barcelona, España.
Bescós
R
R
Irurtia
A
A
Cacciatori
E
E
Vallejo
L
L
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000886:Anthropometry; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D055815:Young Adult