Yonsei Med J.  2011 Nov;52(6):948-952. 10.3349/ymj.2011.52.6.948.

Gender Differences in Relationship between Fat-Free Mass Index and Fat Mass Index among Korean Children Using Body Composition Chart

• Park H
• Park K
• Kim MH
• Kim GS
• Chung S

• KMID: 1058814
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2011.52.6.948

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study aimed to investigate gender differences in the relationship between fat-free mass index (FFMI) and fat mass index (FMI) by applying body composition chart on Korean elementary students.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Data from 965 healthy Korean children of 8 to 12 years of age (501 boys, 464 girls) were obtained. FFMI and FMI were plotted on the body composition chart, and the differences in the relationships between FFMI and FMI were separately evaluated by gender or grade.
RESULTS
Weight was heavier and BMI was higher in 3rd and 4th grade boys compare to girls. The value of FFM was higher in boys, but FM was not different. In subgroup analysis by grade, significant gender by FFMI interaction (p=0.015) was found, indicating that the slope of the lines for FMI vs. FFMI was different between boys and girls (Figure was not shown). In subgroup analysis by gender, grade by FFMI interaction was significant in boys, indicating that FMI vs. FFMI relationship differed according to grade only in boys.
CONCLUSION
Boys are leaner than girls, despite having similar BMI. Gender difference in the direction of the change of the FFMI and FMI relationship is evident in children.

Keyword

Obesity; child; Korea

MeSH Terms

Age Factors
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Body Composition/*physiology
Body Mass Index
Child
Female
Humans
Korea
Male
Obesity/physiopathology
Sex Factors

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Fat mass index (FMI) versus fat free mass index (FFMI) in girls (A) and boys (B). Solid and dashed lines represent 6th graders and 3rd to 5th graders respectively.

Reference

1. Obesity: preventing and managing the global epidemic. Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organ Tech Rep Ser. 2000. 894:i–xii. 1–253.

2. Park YS, Lee DH, Choi JM, Kang YJ, Kim CH. Trend of obesity in school age children in Seoul over the past 23 years. Korean J Pediatr. 2004. 47:247–257.

3. Kim HM, Park J, Kim HS, Kim DH, Park SH. Obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in Korean children and adolescents aged 10-18 years from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1998 and 2001. Am J Epidemiol. 2006. 164:787–793.

4. Poskitt EM. European Childhood Obesity group. Defining childhood obesity: the relative body mass index (BMI). Acta Paediatr. 1995. 84:961–963.

5. Dietz WH, Robinson TN. Use of the body mass index (BMI) as a measure of overweight in children and adolescents. J Pediatr. 1998. 132:191–193.

6. Quetelet LAJ. A treatise on man and the development of his faculties. Comparative statistics in the 19th century. 1842. Edinburgh: William and Robert Chambers.

7. Gallagher D, Visser M, Sepúlveda D, Pierson RN, Harris T, Heymsfield SB. How useful is body mass index for comparison of body fatness across age, sex, and ethnic groups? Am J Epidemiol. 1996. 143:228–239.

8. Horlick M. Body mass index in childhood--measuring a moving target. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001. 86:4059–4060.

9. Franklin MF. Comparison of weight and height relations in boys from 4 countries. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999. 70:157S–162S.

10. VanItallie TB, Yang MU, Heymsfield SB, Funk RC, Boileau RA. Height-normalized indices of the body's fat-free mass and fat mass: potentially useful indicators of nutritional status. Am J Clin Nutr. 1990. 52:953–959.

11. Van Itallie TB, Segal KR. Nutritional assessment of hospital patients: new methods and new opportunities. Am J Hum Biol. 1989. 1:205–208.

12. Bell W. Fat-free mass and fat mass in active boys during adolescence. Am J Hum Biol. 1997. 9:617–627.

13. Hattori K. Body composition and lean body mass index for Japanese college students. J Anthropol Soc Nippon. 1991. 99:141–148.

14. Hattori K, Tatsumi N, Tanaka S. Assessment of body composition by using a new chart method. Am J Hum Biol. 1997. 9:573–578.

15. Demerath EW, Schubert CM, Maynard LM, Sun SS, Chumlea WC, Pickoff A, et al. Do changes in body mass index percentile reflect changes in body composition in children? Data from the Fels Longitudinal Study. Pediatrics. 2006. 117:e487–e495.

16. Maynard LM, Wisemandle W, Roche AF, Chumlea WC, Guo SS, Siervogel RM. Childhood body composition in relation to body mass index. Pediatrics. 2001. 107:344–350.

17. Freedman DS, Wang J, Maynard LM, Thornton JC, Mei Z, Pierson RN, et al. Relation of BMI to fat and fat-free mass among children and adolescents. Int J Obes (Lond). 2005. 29:1–8.

18. Nakao T, Komiya S. Reference norms for a fat-free mass index and fat mass index in the Japanese child population. J Physiol Anthropol Appl Human Sci. 2003. 22:293–298.

19. Wells JC. A Hattori chart analysis of body mass index in infants and children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000. 24:325–329.

20. Buyken AE, Bolzenius K, Karaolis-Danckert N, Günther AL, Kroke A. Body composition trajectories into adolescence according to age at pubertal growth spurt. Am J Hum Biol. 2011. 23:216–224.

21. Eissa MA, Dai S, Mihalopoulos NL, Day RS, Harrist RB, Labarthe DR. Trajectories of fat mass index, fat free-mass index, and waist circumference in children: Project HeartBeat! Am J Prev Med. 2009. 37:S34–S39.

22. Castilho SD, Cocetti M, de Azevedo Barros Filho A. Body mass index and body composition in relation to sexual maturation. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2008. 21:127–133.