title: Air displacement plethysmography: cradle to grave.
abstract: Differences in body composition are associated with increased disease risk in various stages of life. Despite numerous available methods in assessing body composition (air displacement plethysmography, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, bioelectrical impedance, hydrometry, and magnetic resonance imaging), due to innate technical limitations, the ability for one singular method to track body composition over the life span (ie, infancy to adulthood) is challenging and imperfect. The primary goal of this review is to determine if there are body composition methods that can accurately track body composition from infancy into adulthood. After careful consideration and taking into account the best available scientific evidence, we feel air displacement plethysmography is the best instrument at this time for tracking body composition, starting in infancy and forward into adulthood, partly because it is the only "practical" clinical tool currently available for use during infancy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Section of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma dfields@ouhsc.edu.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fields
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Section of Maternal Fetal Medicine, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: Ravindu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gunatilake
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Section of Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
authors.forename: Evangelia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kalaitzoglou
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001823:Body Composition; D006803:Human Development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D010991:Plethysmography / Q000379:methods*
keywords: absorptiometry; body composition; densitometry; plethysmography