OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the components of body composition obtained by leg-to-leg bioimpedance and skinfold thickness measurements in children. METHODS: Triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses and TANITA TBF-300A leg-to-leg bioimpedance were used to determine the body composition of 1 286 schoolchildren (703 girls and 583 boys) aged 7 to 9 years. The Pearson's correlation coefficient (r) and Bland-Altman plot were used to analyze the agreement between the two methods. RESULTS: The two methods correlated strongly and significantly for girls´ and boys´ percentage of body fat (0.77 and 0.89, respectively), fat mass (0.93 and 0.94 respectively) and lean mass (0.92 and 0.89 respectively). The Bland-Altman plot also showed good agreement between the methods, since only a few points corresponding to the differences between the measurements obtained by the two methods were outside the confidence interval. CONCLUSION: These results show that both methods, triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses and leg-to-leg bioimpedance, can be used to asses the body composition of schoolchildren in population-based studies. Yet, the wide variability observed in some measurements suggests that either method should always be associated with other indicators to assess body composition.
Body composition; Children; Bioelectrical impedance
