Body Mass Index and Body Composition Measures by Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry in Patients Aged 10 to 21 Years With Spinal Cord Injury

• Published in: The journal of spinal cord medicine 2007-01, Vol.30 (sup1), p.S97-S104
• Main Authors: McDonald, Craig M., Abresch-Meyer, Allison L., Dopier Nelson, Mindy, M.Widman, Lana M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absorptiometry, Photon - methods; Adolescence; Adolescent; Adult; Anthropometry; Body composition; Body Composition - physiology; Body Mass Index; Bone Density; Case-Control Studies; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry; Female; Humans; Male; Obesity; Original Contribution; Paraplegia; ROC Curve; Spinal cord injuries; Spinal Cord Injuries - metabolism; Spinal Cord Injuries - pathology; Tetraplegia
• ISSN: 1079-0268; 2045-7723
• DOI: 10.1080/10790268.2007.11754612

Background/Objective: To determine the body composition of adolescents with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to assess whether established cutoff values for obesity determined by body mass index (BMI) are valid for this population. Methods: Sixty patients, aged 10-21 years, with traumatic SCI (50 with paraplegia and 1 0 with tetraplegia) were compared with 60 gender-, age-, and BMI-matched controls (CTRL). Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to estimate regional and total bone mineral content, lean tissue mass, fat tissue mass, and body fat percentage. BMI was calculated from measured weight and stature (kg/m2) . Results: Total percent body fat was significantly higher in the paraplegia group (31.4%±1.2%; mean±SE) than in the tetraplegia and CTRL groups (25.7%±2.7% and 22.9%±1.1 %, respectively). This change in percent total body fat was associated with a reduction of lean tissue mass in the paraplegia (37.6±1.1 kg; mean±SE) and tetraplegia (32.8±2.5 kg) subjects as compared to the CTRL group (46.2±1.0 kg; P0 in males and>35 in females) in subjects with SCI was 19 kg/m2 as compared to 25 kg/m2 in able-bodied subjects. Conclusions: Patients aged 10 to 21 years with SCI have significantly decreased lean tissue mass and bone mineral content, and increased fat mass. As a result, traditional BMI cutoff criteria significantly underestimate obesity in this population. New clinically applicable criteria to define obesity should be established for SCI children and adolescents with SCI.