Deuterium oxide dilution and body composition in overweight and obese schoolchildren aged 6-9 years

Objective: To correlate different methods of body composition assessment in overweight or obese schoolchildren, using deuterium oxide (D2O) dilution as a reference. Methods: Percentage of total body water (%TBW), fat free mass (%FFM), and body fat (%BF) were assessed by D2O and tetrapolar electrical bioimpedance analysis (BIA) in 54 obese and overweight students aged 6–9 years. Skinfold thickness (ST), body mass index (BMI), conicity index (CI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and waist-to-hip (WHR) ratio were also used. Results: Mean values for body composition were 38.4% ± 8.4% BF, 44.9% ± 6.1% TBW and 61.6% ± 8.4% FFM. There was no significant difference in body weight, body fat mass (FM), TBW, and FFM between genders. Regarding D2O, ST underestimated %BF, and overestimated %FFM in both genders (p