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Book Review |
Baylor College of Medicine Body Composition Laboratory US Department of Agriculture Children's Nutrition Research Center One Baylor Plaza Houston, TX 77030 E-mail: kellis{at}bcm.tmc.edu
In the preface to this book, the authors state that they wanted to combine details of the methods used to study body composition in children and adolescents with the results obtained by using some of these approaches in a single publication. To some degree, the authors have accomplished their goal. This is probably the first monograph since the reference publication of Human Body Composition (GB Forbes, 1987) that is focused solely on children and adolescents. The book contains 15 contributed chapters, including the opening chapter, which presents an overview of the various techniques used to assess body composition.
I started to read this book with great interest, but as I came across significant errors in the first chapter alone, my initial enthusiasm was quickly dampened. Statements such as 40K having been administered to subjects to measure total body potassium or that the "DXA [dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry] procedure is based on an analysis of gamma rays emitted from the body in response to a low intensity neutron beam" are simply not true. Another example is that total-body electrical conductivity was developed in the early 1980s; thus, it is difficult to regard this as a new technology. Also, it is the electrolyte content of the body's water that is needed for bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to work.
Because the first chapter introduces the various methods, I had hoped that data collected with the use of each of these techniques would be presented. The body-composition data presented in most of the remaining chapters is somewhat disappointing, however, because in 6 of these chapters single-frequency BIA was the only measurement technique used. No chapter, for example, presents any findings from DXA in children or adolescents, a technique that has become relatively common.
One chapter does offer a unique view of an advanced body-composition technique, that of the protein mass, which is based on the prompt-gamma neutron activation technique for body nitrogen. Another interesting and useful chapter examines the relation between body composition (visceral fat estimated by regional magnetic resonance imaging) and risk of cardiovascular disease. One chapter presents a newer optical technique for assessing the thickness of the subcutaneous adipose tissue layer at multiple sites over the body. The information contained in these 3 chapters alone may make this book worthy for the body compositionist's reference collection.
The remaining chapters rely solely on standard anthropometry techniques (measurement of weight, height, body mass index, and skinfold thickness) or discuss the psychological relation of body image to body composition during growth and adolescence. Overall, this book may provide some new insights for the novice practitioner of body-composition assessment or for those who will only be using BIA. Otherwise, it will be of limited value to the more experienced investigator, with the exception of the 3 chapters previously noted.
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