Background/Objective: Inappropriate BODY composition is an important risk factor for many diseases especially cardiovascular disorders. Excessive visceral FAT accumulation is an important health problem. FAT densitometry has been used for estimation of BODY FAT for many years, but it does not measure visceral and subcutaneous FAT separately. It is also based on con-diction of electricity in BODY, which makes it inappropriate in patients with metallic prosthesis or pace maker. Zoography is a very accessible technique, which may be used for evaluation of visceral and sub-coetaneous FAT. The purpose of this study was to evil-ate sonographic prediction of BODY FAT and lean BODY MASS Patients and Method: In 106 patients (63 men, 43 women mean; age 58/8 y) admitted in our hospital, monographic evaluation of abdomen was done for proper evaluation. The subcutaneous FAT was measured at the paraumblical region (from skin to sheath of rectus abdominal muscle) and visceral FAT was measured in right par renal space (from Gerona’s cap-slue to sheath of transverse abdominal muscle). The results were compared with BODY MASS index (BMI) and bioelectric FAT densitometry. Results: The mean age of our patients was 58.8±1.1 years. Among them 59% were men and 41% were women. The mean BMI was 26.48±0.33, (in men 25.89±0.36, in women 27.33±0.61). Mean values of FAT percent and FAT MASS obtained by Electric method were 31.07±0.81% and 22.12±0.68 kg respectively. Mean values of subcutaneous FAT and retroperitoneal FAT obtained by sonography were 20.50±0.56mm and 24.14±0.58mm respectively. Correlation between BMI and Subcutaneous FAT was 0.85 (P<0.001) and correlation between BMI and retroperitoneal FAT was 0.46 (P<0.001). P-value of multiple regressions among sex and age and other factors was less than 0.05. Conclusion: sonography is a reliable and available method for estimation of lean BODY MASS instead of bioelectric FAT densitometry.

Background: The sensitivity and specificity of BODY MASS index (BMI) percentiles of CDC2000 standard which is used in determining obesity in Iranian children was compared with child real obesity identified by FAT MASS index (FMI) and obesity status in these children based on BMI and FMI was compared too.Methods: Weight, height and triceps skinfold (TSF) thickness were measured in 1800 primary school children in Sabzevar, Iran. FAT MASS (estimated from TSF) and weight were divided by height squared to calculate FMI and BMI, respectively. FMI at or above the 90th percentile of age- and sex- specific data in this study was considered as criterion for real obesity, and BMI³95th and 85th<BMI<95th percentile of the CDC2000 standards were used for obesity and overweight definition, respectively. Using chisquare test, differences between the two indices in identifying obesity in children were examined.Results: Based on the CDC cut-offs, the prevalence of overweight and obesity in our children were 7.9% and 4.8%, respectively. From the real obese and non-obese children identified by the FMI, 43.3% and 0.6% were identified as obese according to BMI, respectively. In addition, the sensitivity and specificity of 90th percentile of BMI to identify children as obese were 71.1% and 98% respectively. Conclusions: The efficacy of BMI in determining childhood obesity may be less than expected and it appears that FMI in comparison with BMI, is a better indicator of obesity in children, but more studies in this area are required.

Background: The sensitivity and specificity of BODY MASS index (BMI) percentiles of Centers for Disease Control 2000 (CDC2000) standard was compared with child actual overweight which was identified by FAT MASS index (FMI) and overweight status in these children based on BMI and FMI.Methods: In this case-control study, elementary school girls (aged 8-10 years) were recruited from schools of Isfahan, Iran. Weight, height and FAT MASS were measured by BODY composition analyzer (BCA) and by calculating BMI (weight in kilogram divided by height in meters squared) and FMI (FAT MASS in kilogram divided by height in meters squared) and then the BMI and FMI were compared. BMI³95th and BMI<95th percentile of the CDC2000 standards were used for overweight and non-overweight definition, respectively. FMI on or above the 90th percentile and FMI<90th percentile based on the reference data were considered as criteria for actual overweight and actual non-overweight, respectively.Findings: Mean (±standard deviation) of FMI and BMI in all children were 6±2.1 and 19.4±3, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of 95th percentile of BMI to identify children as overweight in comparison with FMI were 57.3% and 98.4%, respectively. 1.6% of the children, who were identified as non-overweight based on FMI, were overweight based BMI, and 57.3 % of the children who were overweight based on FMI, were also overweight based on BMI.Conclusion: It appears that FMI in comparison with BMI has more ability to determine overweight; however, further studies are required in this field.