Air displacement plethysmography can detect moderate changes in body composition

Feasibility and acceptability of the Bod Pod procedure and changes in body composition from admission to discharge in adolescents hospitalized with eating disorders

The feasibility and acceptability of using the Bod Pod procedure to measure changes in body composition in 30 adolescent females admitted to an inpatient eating disorder unit was evaluated using written surveys, Bod Pod measurements obtained at admission and discharge, and medical records review. Participants rated the Bod Pod test as acceptable (100%; 30/30), comfortable (93%, 28/30), and they were willing to repeat the procedure (97%, 29/30). Ten participants did not complete the final Bod Pod: eight were discharged before a second measure could be obtained, one refused the test, and one left against medical advice. Three participants had undetectable readings at admission. Paired t-tests (n = 17) revealed a significant (p < 0.001) mean increase in fat mass (3.7 ± 2 kg), body fat percentage (6.6 ± 3.8%), and lean mass (1.4 ± 1.2 kg) from admission to discharge. The Bod Pod is a feasible and acceptable procedure to measure changes in body composition in adolescent females hospitalized with an eating disorder.

Telephone-delivered nutrition and exercise counselling after auto-SCT: a pilot, randomised controlled trial

Adverse changes in nutrition-related outcomes including quality of life (QoL) occur after PBSC transplantation. This randomised controlled trial aims to evaluate the impact of nutrition and exercise counselling provided at hospital discharge on nutritional status, body composition and QoL post transplantation. Usual care (UC) (n=19) received no intervention after discharge; extended care (EC) (n=18) received fortnightly telephone counselling from a dietitian and exercise physiologist up to 100 days post transplantation. Nutritional status (patient-generated subjective global assessment, and diet history), QoL (EORTC QLQ-C30 version 3) and body composition (air displacement plethysmography) were assessed at pre-admission, discharge and 100 days post transplantation. Intervention groups were compared using two-sample t-tests of changes in the outcomes; results were adjusted using analysis of covariance. EC exhibited clinically important but not statistically significant increases in protein intake (14.7 g; confidence interval (CI) 95% -6.5, 35.9, P=0.165), cognitive functioning (7.2; CI 95% -7.9, 22.2, P=0.337) and social functioning (16.5; CI 95% -7.3, 40.3, P=0.165) compared with UC. Relative to pre-admission, EC experienced less weight loss than UC (-3.3 kg; CI 95% -6.7, 0.2, P=0.062). Physical activity was not significantly different between the groups. Ongoing nutrition and exercise counselling may prevent further weight loss and improve dietary intake and certain QoL components in autologous PBSC transplantation patients following hospitalisation.

Insulin therapy and body weight, body composition and muscular strength in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Aims. To determine the progression of body weight (BW) and body composition (BC) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) on insulin therapy and the consequences on muscle strength (MS) as a reflect of free fat mass increases. Research design and methods. We analysed BC using air displacement plethysmography and MS by hand grip dynamometry in 40 T2D before and after three (M3) and six months (M6) of insulin therapy. Results. at baseline HbA1c was 9.76 ±1.6% and BW was stable with fat mass (FM) 28 ± 10.7 kg; and fat free mass (FFM) 52.4 ± 11 kg; at M6, HbA1c improved to 7.56 ± 0.8%; insulin doses tended to increase. BW gain at M6 was + 3.2 ± 4.2 kg and with an increase of only 25% by M3; it was composed of FM, whereas FFM was unchanged. MS did not increase on insulin therapy. Conclusions. In T2D, BW gain was composed exclusively of FM with no improvement in MS.