Abstract

To establish the appropriate predictive equations of body segments by bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in Taiwan elite male football players, 26 disciplined players at first grade in collegiate league have been recruited in this study. The measurement data by our newly developed predictive equation was compared with Tanita BC-418 to confirm the greater performance in prediction of body composition in our equation. The actual analyzed data of segments body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was taken as reference one. Both of the correlation coefficients of whole body fat free mass (FFM) measured by DXA between BC-418 as well as that of our newly developed predictive equation were over 0.95. However, the correlation coefficients of upper limb, lower limb and truck FFM measured by predictive equation highly correlated to that of the reference DXA were 0.75, 0.76 and 0.89, respectively. They all were better than that of BC-418 measurement. In summary, the greater performance in prediction of segments body composition in our developed predictive equation by BIA measurement has shown the possibility of application for monitoring athlete body composition especially the limb and trunk.

Key words: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, fat free mass, body composition.