BMI and an anthropometry-based estimate of fat mass percentage are both valid discriminators of cardiometabolic risk: A comparison with DXA and bioimpedance

Objective. to determine whether categories of obesity based on bmi and an anthropometry-based estimate of fat mass percentage (fm% equation) have similar discriminative ability for markers of cardiometabolic risk as measurements of fm% by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (dxa) or bioimpedance analysis (bia). design and methods. a study of 40-79-year-old male (n = 205) and female (n = 388) finns. weight,height,blood pressure,triacylglycerols,hdl cholesterol,and fasting blood glucose were measured. body composition was assessed by dxa and bia and a fm%-equation. results. for grade 1 hypertension,dyslipidaemia,and impaired fasting glucose >6.1 mmol/l,the categories of obesity as defined by bmi and the fm% equation had 1.9% to 3.7% (p < 0.01) higher discriminative power compared to dxa. for grade 2 hypertension the fm% equation discriminated 1.2% (p = 0.05) lower than dxa and 2.8% (p < 0.01) lower than bia. receiver operation characteristics confirmed bia as best predictor of grade 2 hypertension and the fm% equation as best predictor of grade 1 hypertension. all other differences in area under curve were small (≤0.04) and 95% confidence intervals included 0. conclusions. both bmi and fm% equations may predict cardiometabolic risk with similar discriminative ability as fm% measured by dxa or bia. © 2013 benno krachler et al.