Bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) is commonly used in clinical settings and field studies for estimating total, extracellular, and intracellular water compartments. The objective of the present study was to carry out a meta-analysis of published reports in which total body water (TBW) was estimated using BIA techniques and comparisons were made with reference values. We identified 16 reports conducted among healthy and obese adults and individuals with chronic renal failure. Based on the weighted mean difference, we found that those studies using only multi-frequency BIA did not significantly overestimate the TBW compared with the reference values. Thus, among BIA techniques, multi-frequency BIA seems to be a more accurate method for estimating the TBW compartment for healthy and obese adults and for those with chronic renal failure.

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BackgroundThe aims of the study were to: a) Examine the distribution of gender-stratified body mass index (BMI), eating attitudes and use of addictive substances, under the hypothesis of a confluent prevalence of weight abnormalities, eating disorders and substance abuse. b) Demonstrate the extent to which family, peer-related and psychosocial factors are common elements in categories of compulsive behaviour.Methodology/Principal FindingsIn the present cross-sectional study, data were collected through self reported questionnaires administered to a large sample of 33,185 15–19 years old adolescents (ESPAD®Italia), divided into weight categories based on the BMI percentile distribution. Multinomial analyses were adopted to address the influence of social, family, leisure time factors, Eating Attitude Test (EAT26) on the association between weight categories and drug use.Recent drugs use was more frequent in overweight and underweight adolescents (p<0.05), especially in females. An EAT26 score ≥20 was more common in overweight adolescents. Multinomial analysis abolished the relationship between overweight and the use of most drugs, implicating self-esteem, parents' educational level, and friendships as mediators of the association. Within the overweight category, adolescents reporting recent drug use, showed greater frequency of having drug-abusing friends (∼80%), and severe problems with parents and school (∼30%) compared to overweight adolescents without recent drug use.ConclusionThe frequent association of overweight and substance use and the presence of common underlying social factors, highlights the need for an interdisciplinary approach involving individual-focused treatment models as well as public health, social and environmental changes to reduce food- and substances-related problems.