title: Body composition of Cameroonian lactating women determined by anthropometry, bioelectrical impedance, and deuterium dilution.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study compared body composition estimates using deuterium dilution, multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and skinfold thickness techniques in a group of Cameroonian lactating women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body fat, fat-free mass, and total body water in 44 Cameroonian lactating women (2.63 ± 1.31 mo postpartum) were assessed by deuterium dilution, the Siri or black-specific derived Durnin-Womerley equation, and 12 BIA-prediction equations developed in samples of subjects of white, black, black-and-white, or unspecified racial background, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with deuterium dilution, anthropometry and BIA-based predictive equations overestimated body fat by 2.7 to 11.7 kg; thus, fat-free mass and total body water were underestimated. In all cases, the significant biases resulted in large 95% limits of agreement, yielding unacceptable potential bias at the level of the individual. However, the exclusion of suprailiac skinfold in the calculation, yielding to non-significant (P < 0.05) bias, improved the prediction of body composition in Cameroonian lactating women using the Durnin-Womersley and Siri equations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is essential to adjust the Durnin-Womersley equation before using it in the Siri equation for the prediction of body composition in lactating women. Further development and cross-validation of prediction equations from BIA specific to lactating women is needed.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Food and Nutrition Research, IMPM, Yaoundé, Cameroon. gmedoua@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Gabriel Nama
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Medoua
authors.forename: Estelle Sajo
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Nana
authors.forename: Véronique J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Essa'a
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ntsama
authors.forename: Chelea
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matchawe
authors.forename: Honorine Adie
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Rikong
authors.forename: Jean Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Essame Oyono
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry / Q000379:methods; D015982:Bias; D001823:Body Composition; D002163:Cameroon; D003903:Deuterium; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007201:Indicator Dilution Techniques; D007774:Lactation; D008433:Mathematics / Q000379:methods; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003903:Deuterium