“IN VIVO” MODELS AND TECHNIQUES FOR BODY COMPOSITION MEASUREMENT

Elvira Baze, Alajdin Hasani

Abstract

Obesity is a complex disease, caused by genetic, environmental, and individual factors. In many industrialized countries this disease affects up to one third of the adult population with a tendency to spread even to pediatric age: thus, undoubtedly presenting the largest epidemic of this third millennium and at the same time, the most common chronic pathology of the world mainly in the western countries. Therefore, it has prompted various researchers to study the phenomenon of overweight / obesity, as well as to develop sophisticated methods and techniques for measurement the fat % in body composition. Some of the earliest information on the composition of the human body has been based on chemical analysis of specific organs, and occasionally for the whole body. But all these techniques require the realization of measurements in laboratory conditions, making it difficult to use them in other conditions especially in quantitative studies with many subjects. Using anthropometric measurements to assess body composition is a simple and reliable method. Through anthropometry, body size and body proportions can be determined by measuring the length, width, perimeter, and fat of the skin folds. Recent studies show that not only total body fat but also the fat in certain areas and in skeletal muscle can be estimated through anthropometric measurements, which makes anthropometric methods, mainly the skin folds measurement, to be one of the most recommended methods for use in estimating the percentage of fat in body composition, in quantitative studies for determining the prevalence of the phenomenon.

Pages: 80 - 93