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Body composition reference charts for infants from birth to 24 months: Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study

Body composition reference charts for infants from birth to 24 months: Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study
Body composition reference charts for infants from birth to 24 months: Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study

Background: body composition assessment in the first 2 y of life provides important insights into child nutrition and health. The application and interpretation of body composition data in infants and young children have been challenged by a lack of global reference data.

Objectives: we aimed to develop body composition reference charts of infants aged 0-6 mo based on air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and those aged 3-24 mo based on total body water (TBW) by deuterium dilution (DD).

Methods: body composition was assessed by ADP in infants aged 0-6 mo from Australia, India, and South Africa. TBW using DD was assessed for infants aged 3-24 mo from Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Reference charts and centiles were constructed for body composition using the lambda-mu-sigma method.

Results: sex-specific reference charts were produced for FM index (FMI), FFM index (FFMI), and percent FM (%FM) for infants aged 0-6 mo (n = 470 infants; 1899 observations) and 3-24 mo (n = 1026 infants; 3690 observations). When compared with other available references, there were observable differences but similar patterns in the trajectories of FMI, FFMI, and %FM.

Conclusions: these reference charts will strengthen the interpretation and understanding of body composition in infants across the first 24 mo of life.

Male, Child, Female, Infant, Humans, Child, Preschool, Body Mass Index, Plethysmography/methods, Body Composition, Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Australia, Adipose Tissue/metabolism
0002-9165
1262-1269
Murphy-Alford, Alexia J.
a965e8b4-bdd4-4fee-9200-851e2466f342
Johnson, William
4a189428-9d6a-4a37-88fa-e5770f577350
Nyati, Lukhanyo H.
18d7ac34-0c97-4f40-9195-5eee0a8ed7ff
Santos, Ina S.
db55a8d5-a9eb-4769-a0b6-cf65912b1da2
Hills, Andrew P.
d4e02e02-0bae-463c-bdb1-2937e8149f35
Ariff, Shabina
acb1ad6d-2073-47c4-a19b-ee98b1d4773d
Wickramasinghe, V. Pujitha
8530eb70-b474-40ee-8c8c-bb47d7fa143b
Kuriyan, Rebecca
01eb0b05-3bf7-4a15-af7b-98271f649c34
Lucas, M. Nishani
c2c5bdcb-d35e-4453-8c66-376b2afb69d2
Costa, Caroline S.
43c21b9d-56aa-47ae-a353-4e2b9d0d9318
Slater, Christine
1060655f-80e8-4c27-83b1-a5a87ee9ac84
Ahmad, Tanvir
3484550d-e258-4f32-9920-77c6d4a34929
Byrne, Nuala M.
50dddf2a-83e1-4874-a20b-98199dd3f5d1
Divya, Priscilla J.
bdb01571-089f-4106-9626-96c5ab4d8656
Kurpad, Anura V.
d94c1b3b-a14f-44e8-bd9a-84f5f25cc8d0
Cheikh Ismail, Leila I.
95da269a-dad3-431c-a23c-cb0e495ec58f
Loechl, Cornelia U.
6066f09a-7d89-4365-b110-eb6a5dfbf292
Norris, Shane A.
1d346f1b-6d5f-4bca-ac87-7589851b75a4
Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study (MIBCRS)
Murphy-Alford, Alexia J.
a965e8b4-bdd4-4fee-9200-851e2466f342
Johnson, William
4a189428-9d6a-4a37-88fa-e5770f577350
Nyati, Lukhanyo H.
18d7ac34-0c97-4f40-9195-5eee0a8ed7ff
Santos, Ina S.
db55a8d5-a9eb-4769-a0b6-cf65912b1da2
Hills, Andrew P.
d4e02e02-0bae-463c-bdb1-2937e8149f35
Ariff, Shabina
acb1ad6d-2073-47c4-a19b-ee98b1d4773d
Wickramasinghe, V. Pujitha
8530eb70-b474-40ee-8c8c-bb47d7fa143b
Kuriyan, Rebecca
01eb0b05-3bf7-4a15-af7b-98271f649c34
Lucas, M. Nishani
c2c5bdcb-d35e-4453-8c66-376b2afb69d2
Costa, Caroline S.
43c21b9d-56aa-47ae-a353-4e2b9d0d9318
Slater, Christine
1060655f-80e8-4c27-83b1-a5a87ee9ac84
Ahmad, Tanvir
3484550d-e258-4f32-9920-77c6d4a34929
Byrne, Nuala M.
50dddf2a-83e1-4874-a20b-98199dd3f5d1
Divya, Priscilla J.
bdb01571-089f-4106-9626-96c5ab4d8656
Kurpad, Anura V.
d94c1b3b-a14f-44e8-bd9a-84f5f25cc8d0
Cheikh Ismail, Leila I.
95da269a-dad3-431c-a23c-cb0e495ec58f
Loechl, Cornelia U.
6066f09a-7d89-4365-b110-eb6a5dfbf292
Norris, Shane A.
1d346f1b-6d5f-4bca-ac87-7589851b75a4

Murphy-Alford, Alexia J., Johnson, William, Nyati, Lukhanyo H., Santos, Ina S., Hills, Andrew P., Ariff, Shabina, Wickramasinghe, V. Pujitha, Kuriyan, Rebecca, Lucas, M. Nishani, Costa, Caroline S., Slater, Christine, Ahmad, Tanvir, Byrne, Nuala M., Divya, Priscilla J., Kurpad, Anura V., Cheikh Ismail, Leila I., Loechl, Cornelia U. and Norris, Shane A. , Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study (MIBCRS) (2023) Body composition reference charts for infants from birth to 24 months: Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 117 (6), 1262-1269. (doi:10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.02.012).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Background: body composition assessment in the first 2 y of life provides important insights into child nutrition and health. The application and interpretation of body composition data in infants and young children have been challenged by a lack of global reference data.

Objectives: we aimed to develop body composition reference charts of infants aged 0-6 mo based on air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and those aged 3-24 mo based on total body water (TBW) by deuterium dilution (DD).

Methods: body composition was assessed by ADP in infants aged 0-6 mo from Australia, India, and South Africa. TBW using DD was assessed for infants aged 3-24 mo from Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Reference charts and centiles were constructed for body composition using the lambda-mu-sigma method.

Results: sex-specific reference charts were produced for FM index (FMI), FFM index (FFMI), and percent FM (%FM) for infants aged 0-6 mo (n = 470 infants; 1899 observations) and 3-24 mo (n = 1026 infants; 3690 observations). When compared with other available references, there were observable differences but similar patterns in the trajectories of FMI, FFMI, and %FM.

Conclusions: these reference charts will strengthen the interpretation and understanding of body composition in infants across the first 24 mo of life.

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Alexia Murphy-Alford et al - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 13 February 2023
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 May 2023
Published date: 1 June 2023
Keywords: Male, Child, Female, Infant, Humans, Child, Preschool, Body Mass Index, Plethysmography/methods, Body Composition, Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Australia, Adipose Tissue/metabolism

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 512047
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/512047
ISSN: 0002-9165
PURE UUID: 46dc9ed9-de7f-4a02-9b91-98a6665f73c1
ORCID for Shane A. Norris: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-7124-3788

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Date deposited: 15 Jun 2026 16:36
Last modified: 16 Jun 2026 01:58

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Contributors

Author: Alexia J. Murphy-Alford
Author: William Johnson
Author: Lukhanyo H. Nyati
Author: Ina S. Santos
Author: Andrew P. Hills
Author: Shabina Ariff
Author: V. Pujitha Wickramasinghe
Author: Rebecca Kuriyan
Author: M. Nishani Lucas
Author: Caroline S. Costa
Author: Christine Slater
Author: Tanvir Ahmad
Author: Nuala M. Byrne
Author: Priscilla J. Divya
Author: Anura V. Kurpad
Author: Leila I. Cheikh Ismail
Author: Cornelia U. Loechl
Author: Shane A. Norris ORCID iD
Corporate Author: Multicenter Infant Body Composition Reference Study (MIBCRS)

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