title: Fat-free mass hydration in newborns: assessment and implications for body composition studies.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Equipment (Pea Pod) offering new possibilities to assess infant body composition has recently become available and has already been used in several studies. In the Pea Pod, body density is converted to body composition using one of two models ('Fomon' or 'Butte') with different water content in fat-free mass (hydration factor, HF). In healthy full-term infants, we assessed HF and its biological variability in 12 newborns and calculated body composition using the two models at 1 and 12 weeks in 108 infants. Body weight and volume were assessed in Pea Pod, and body water was assessed using isotope dilution.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hydration factor was 80.9% with low biological variability (0.8% of average HF). Body fat (%) was significantly lower at 1 and 12 weeks when calculated using the 'Butte' model than when using the 'Fomon' model. The difference was more pronounced at one than at 12 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our HF value agrees with that in the 'Fomon' model, its low biological variability can be reconciled with the statement that Pea Pod is accurate in newborns and 'Fomon' is the best available model for studies in Pea Pod.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Sweden.
authors.forename: Britt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Löf
authors.forename: Olle
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Ulf
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hannestad
authors.forename: Elisabet
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Forsum
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000367:Age Factors; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology*; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D015203:Reproducibility of Results