Paediatric morphometrics : a reference manual.

(2nd extended ed.

Body composition in children based on anthropometric data. A presentation of normal values.

Body composition in children based on anthropometric data. A presentation of normal values. Gerver WJ, de Bruin R. Department of Paediatrics, University Hospital Maastricht, The Netherlands. Knowledge of the body composition in terms of fat and fat-free mass is used in paediatrics to estimate a child's nutritional status. To obtain the fat content or protein content sophisticated techniques exist. These techniques are often difficult to apply in daily practice. An anthropometric approach is therefore relevant because of its simplicity. In this study skinfold thicknesses and mid-upperarm circumference are presented as reference values and used to derive the fat-free mass fraction of the body and the arm muscle area. CONCLUSION: Despite the shortcomings of an anthropometric approach in estimating the fraction of fat-free mass or protein content, its simplicity makes the method of calculating these fractions on skinfold thicknesses and mid-upperarm circumference valuable to apply in daily paediatric practice

Body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness indicators in prepubescent boys and girls

Nutrition and Toxicology Research Institute Maastricht (NUTRIM), The Netherlands. [email protected] Abstract.Relations between frequently used indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness, sex and body composition were studied in a birth-cohort based sample of young prepubescent children (age range: 6.8 - 8.2 years). The Bruce treadmill test was used to assess submaximal heart rate, endurance time (ET), calculated total work (W(total)) and maximal power output (P(max)) in 100 children (50 boys, 50 girls). Body composition was determined by skinfold measurements. In 17 children, maximal oxygen consumption was measured. Percent body fat was negatively associated with ET and relative oxygen uptake (ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)) and was positively related to submaximal heart rate at 6 minutes exercise (HR6). Fat-free mass was positively related to W(total), P(max) and absolute oxygen uptake (ml x min(-1)). Relative oxygen uptake (ml x min(-1) x kg(-1)) was related to ET. Absolute oxygen uptake (ml x min(-1)) was related to W(total) and P(max). The observed differences in indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness between boys and girls were largely attributable to a difference in body composition. The results further demonstrate that when oxygen uptake measurement is not feasible, W(total) or P(max) (expressed per kilogram fat-free mass) seem to provide better indicators of aerobic power than endurance time. Publication Types: Clinical Tria

A persisting secular trend for body measurements in Dutch children. The Oosterwolde II Study

A persisting secular trend for body measurements in Dutch children. The Oosterwolde II Study. Gerver WJ, De Bruin R, Drayer NM. Department of Pediatrics, University of Limburg, The Netherlands. To investigate whether the secular trend for growth in Dutch children still exists, the Oosterwolde I study of 1980 was repeated in 1989. A persisting secular trend was visible for height while the z scores of body proportions show no change during the past 10 years, which suggests that there is no change in the timing of pubert