Relations Among Surrogate Measures of Adiposity with Change in Body Fat Measured with Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry in Obese Children and Adolescents

The high prevalence of childhood obesity and the risk of obesity-related comorbidities necessitate time- and cost-efficient methods to monitor for adiposity and to reliably assess adiposity change over time. Controversy exists around which surrogate measure of adiposity correlates best with the current gold standard, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The aim of this research was to assess in obese children and adolescents the relations among surrogate measures of adiposity and adiposity change commonly used in research and clinical practice with data obtained by DXA. Percent body fat of obese children and adolescents (BMI ≥ 97th percentile) participating in an 8-week inpatient childhood obesity intervention was obtained at baseline and at the end of an 8-week program by DXA (%BFDXA; Lunar Prodigy® Model 8743).