Normative Values for Body Compartments of Sedentary White People

Abstract

Background: The assessment of the body composition provides information of main constituents of the human body and allows to differentiate between genders and ethnic or to assess changes with age, growth, physical activity, diet and disease. This study shows the evolution of the body compartments, its distribution, and the age and gender related changes in sedentary white people.Methods: A total of 1136 healthy subjects from Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha Regions (Spain) were recruited and divided into 16 groups according to age. Body compartments (fat mass, lean mass and bone mass) measures were obtained from dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of all subjects. Total and regional (trunk, arms and legs) body composition were evaluated. Statistical analyses were performed using the statistical and data management package SPSS for Windows. Results:In males, Total body fat mass increased from birth through 30 years of age. In females, total body fat mass increased from birth through 20 years of age. The age-adjusted evolutional patterns of trunk fat mass showed genderrelated differences. In males, trunk fat mass increased to the age of 55. In females, increased to the age of 70. Males registered larger central fat deposits. There were gender differences for total lean body mass in all age groups except for the 6-10 year age group. Values were in all cases higher for males. Total bone mineral content shows significant gender differences form birth. Females reach a peak in bone mass earlier than males. Conclusion:Contrary to males, females showed from early infancy a smaller proportion of muscle mass and a higher proportion of body fat (from the age of 10), with fat deposits being mostly peripheral. The muscular body component in females is subject to minimal variations during adult age. Bone mass shows significant gender differences between 16 and 70 years of age; bone mass values were higher in males. DXA makes it possible to detect differences in body compartments during the life cycle, as well as it shows clear differences between males and females at any age and in different races or population groups. first techniques used and intended to measure body fat are fundamentally anthropometry and hydrodensitometry. Based on the body's electric conductance, bioelectrical impedance is used, but the possibility of measuring the absorption of energy particles by tissues has given way to absorptiometry techniques, first using an isotopic and then a radiological source. Currently, the advantages offered by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) make it the most appropriate and widely-used technique, for measuring body composition in individuals of different ages and genders [3]. Keywords:DXAThis technique was used initially for the determination of bone mass (bone mineral content in gram (g) and bone mineral density in gram per square centimeter (g/cm 2 ). The bone mineral content and the soft tissue mass are computed on the basis of the attenuation of the energy of the two X-ray beams, making it possible t...