Correlations and consistency of body composition measurement indicators and BMI: a systematic review

It is critical to accurately determine the level of obesity and health status since overweight/obesity has become a main global public health problem. This systematic review attempted to evaluate the consistency and correlation between body composition measurement indicators and body mass index (BMI) in childhood and adolescence.

Seven electronic databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, CNKI, WANFANG DATA, SinoMed) were searched to collect the literature published since 1999 with the focus on the relationship between body composition measurement indicators and BMI to measure obesity in childhood and adolescence.

Among the 28 articles included, 13 articles reported a moderate to very strong correlation between %BF and BMI in obesity measurement (range: 0.49–0.907), while two articles reported a strong to very strong correlation between FM and BMI (range: 0.60–0.86). Six articles reported good to excellent obesity measurement consistency between %BF and BMI (range: 0.441–0.876), one article reported WC (0.58) and WHtR (0.46) in the moderate consistency with BMI, and one article reported a relatively poor to fair consistency between FM and BMI (range: 0.167–0.409). WC, WHtR, and BMI showed the moderate consistency in pre-adolescent children. In pre-adolescence and adolescence, the measurement consistency between %BF and BMI was higher than that between FM and BMI. Gender difference existed in the consistency between %BF and BMI during adolescence.

A range of body composition indicators such as %BF, WC, WHtR, and FM could provide valuable body composition measurements, complement BMI for obesity assessment in children and adolescents, and facilitate efficient and comprehensive surveillance of childhood obesity.

PROSPERO CRD42024506932.