Body composition and energy expenditure in anorexia nervosa: preliminary data of outpatients with recovering and active disease

Plain English summary In recovery from anorexia nervosa, the body mass index does not reflect changes in body composition. Energy expenditure can change according to body composition in an anorexia nervosa and normal individuals. To investigate distinctive parameters in recovering Anorexia Nervosa patients, we evaluated body mass index and other indices obtained from body measurements by bioimpedance among patients with anorexia nervosa with low weight and in the weight recovery phase compared with a group of normal weight women without anorexia nervosa. In conclusion, we observed that one of these indexes, the phase angle can play an important role in the assessment of nutritional status in recovering anorexia nervosa.