Relationship between indices of adiposity obtained by peripheral quantitative computed tomography and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in pre-pubertal children.
OBJECTIVE
The study investigated the relationship between indices of adiposity measured by peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in pre-pubertal children.


METHODS
DXA-derived per cent body fat (%BF) was measured in 284 boys and 288 girls, aged 7-10 years. Cross-sections of the forearm (n=427) and lower leg (n=560) were obtained by pQCT to measure total cross-sectional area of the limb (Total CSA), Muscle CSA, Fat CSA, %Fat CSA (Fat CSA/Total CSAx100) and muscle density.


RESULTS
Peripheral QCT-derived %Fat CSA in the forearm and lower leg correlated strongly with DXA-derived %BF (r=0.83-0.89, p<0.01) in both boys and girls. However, forearm and lower leg %Fat CSA were higher than whole body %BF by 5% and 10%, respectively. A better prediction of whole-body %BF was achieved by including %Fat CSA, muscle density and height into a hierarchical regression model. Using sex-specific regression equations, 87.7% of the boys and 83.7% of the girls had a predicted %BF within 3% units of the %BF obtained by DXA.


CONCLUSIONS
In pre-pubertal children, pQCT measures of adiposity are strongly associated with whole-body per cent body fat. This reproducible method could be an alternative technique to estimate body composition in this population.
Ducher
G
G
Centre for Physical Activity and Nutrition Research, Deakin University, Burwood, Australia. gaele.ducher@deakin.edu.au
Daly
R M
RM
Hill
B
B
Eser
P
P
Naughton
G A
GA
Gravenmaker
K J
KJ
Seibel
M J
MJ
Javaid
A
A
Telford
R D
RD
Bass
S L
SL
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007866:Leg / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D011627:Puberty / Q000502:physiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed