Fat-free mass index: changes and race/ethnic differences in adulthood

Objective: Nutritional status is assessed by measuring BMI or percent body fat (%fat). BMI can misclassify persons who carry more weight as fat-free mass and %fat can be misleading in cases of malnutrition or in disease states characterized by wasting of lean tissue. The fat-free mass index (FFMI) is proposed to assess body composition in individuals who have a similar body composition but differ in height allowing identification of those suffering from malnutrition, wasting or those that possess a relatively high muscle mass. The purpose was to determine whether the FFMI differs in a group of racially/ethnically diverse adults. Design: Cross-sectional. Subjects: Subjects were a multi-ethnic sample (Caucasian, CA; African American, AA; Hispanic, HIS and Asian, AS) of 1339 healthy males (n=480) and females (n=859) ranging in age from 18-110 years. Total body fat, total fat-free mass and bone mineral density were estimated using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: FFMI differed among the four ethnic groups (P