A Comparison Study of Portable Foot-to-Foot Bioelectrical Impedance Scale to Measure Body Fat Percentage in Asian Adults and Children

Abstract

Objective.To compare the measurements of body fat percentage (BF%) using the foot-to-foot bioelectrical impedance analysis (FTF-BIA) with the direct segmental multifrequency BIA (DSM-BIA).Methods.There were 36 men and 52 women (37.1±14.3years) with 57% Malays, 30% Chinese, and 13% Indian. For children, there were 45 boys and 26 girls (11.5±2.5years) with 52% Malay, 15% Chinese, and 33% Indian.Results.Mean height for men was 168.4 cm, 11 cm taller than women. Men were 10 kg heavier than women at 70 kg. BF% in women was 32% and 33% whereas BF% in men was 23% and 25% when measured using FTF-BIA and DSM-BIA, respectively. In children, BF% measured with FTF-BIA and DSM-BIA was 49% and 46%, respectively. The correlations were significant for men (r=0.92, SEE = 2.80), women (r=0.91, SEE = 3.31), boys (r=0.95, SEE = 5.44), and girls (r=0.96, SEE = 5.27). The BF% in underweight/normal (r=0.92, SEE = 2.47) and that in overweight/obese adults (r=0.89, SEE = 3.61) were strongly correlated. The correlations were significant in normal/underweight (r=0.94, SEE = 3.78) and obese/overweight children (r=0.83, SEE = 6.49). All ethnic groups showed significant correlation with BF%. Malay adults (r=0.92, SEE = 3.27) and children (r=0.94, SEE = 0.88) showed significant mean differences in BF%.Conclusion.The FTF-BIA showed higher accuracy for all normal/underweight and Chinese group with acceptable overestimation in children and underestimation in adults. Caution should be taken when interpreting BF% depending on gender, BMI, and ethnicity.