Evaluation of air-displacement plethysmography for body composition assessment in preterm infants.

A validation study has been published on Obesity Journal showing the accuracy and reliability of the newly introduced Pediatric Option Accessory for measuring body fat % in 2-6 years old with the Bod Pod GS.

The aim of the research, conducted by the Mangiagalli Clinic in Milan (Italy), was to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of air-displacement plethysmography system (ADP) to estimate percentage fat mass (%FM) in preterm infants and to evaluate inter-device reliability in infants.

The reference technique for accuracy was deuterium dilution. Precision was assessed through repeated measurement both on the same unit (intra-device reliability) and on 2 units placed side by side (inter-device reliability).

The study conclusions are that "ADP is a noninvasive, reliable, and accurate technique to measure preterm infants’body composition in both research and clinical settings".

The article details are the following:

- Title: "Evaluation of air-displacement plethysmography for body composition assessment in preterm infants."
- Authors: Roggero P, Giannì ML, Amato O, Piemontese P, Morniroli D, Wong WW, Mosca F. Department of Maternal and Pediatric Sciences, Fondazione IRCCS "Ca'Granda" Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, University of Milan, Italy.
- Published in: Pediatr Res. 2012 Jun 5. doi: 10.1038/pr.2012.75.

The abstract can be seen at the following link: click here