Body Composition Assessment in 11-16 years old children

Abstract

Abstract

Childhood and teenage obesity increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in childhood and adolescence, as well as the incidence of metabolic syndrome and CVD in adulthood. Primary goal was to assess body composition in 11 to 16 years old children from 5 different Albanian cities. 120 kids, 70 girls and 50 boys, were chosen at random. Air displacement plethysmography (BOD-POD, GS-X) was used for body composition. The average percentage of body fat is higher in boys (26.17%, SD = 13.33) compared to Girls (23.29%, SD = 7.43).

Conversely, the average percentage of FFM is higher in Girls (76.72%, SD = 7.43) than in boys (73.83%, SD = 13.33). This indicates that, Girls have a higher proportion of lean mass relative to body fat than boys. Descriptive statistics of %FFM revealed that mean values for boys (M = 75.55, SD = 11.77) were comparable to those of Girls (M = 75.02, SD = 10.32). The equality of variances was not significant according to Levene's test, F(1, 114) = 1.05, p =. 307, and the assumption of equal variances was met. The % FFM was not significantly different between boys and Girls as indicated by the t-test, t(114)=0.26, p=. 798; mean difference, 0.53 (95% CI [-3.54, 4.59]). This sample did not yield significant differences in the % FFM, suggesting that % FFM may not be influenced by gender. More studies have to be conducted with a greater number of participants in order to have more reliable data’s regarding body composition in children.

Keywords: Body Composition, Children, Evaluation, Fat Mass, Fat Free Mass.