• Dilek Yilmaz, Gulten Inan, Sacide Karakas, Aslihan Buyukozturk-Karul, and Ferah Sonmez.
• Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Faculty of Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey ; Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey.
• Eurasian J Med. 2012 Aug 1; 44 (2): 94-8.

ObjectiveThe application of body mass index (BMI) for obesity classification in all population studies has been questioned by the scientific community. It has been found that the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is an accurate method for screening obesity. This study was conducted to evaluate the accuracies of BMI, skinfold thickness (SFT), leptin and BIA measurements in obesity classification and to find correlations between BIA and the other indicators for obesity.Materials And MethodsThis case-control study included 178 children of whom 90 were in the obese group and 88 in the control group. The study measured BMI, SFT, leptin level and BIA-mediated body fat percentage (BIA BFP) in each child.ResultsThe BMIs, leptin levels, SFTs and BIA BFPs of children in the obese group were found to be higher than those in the control group (p<0.001). The measurement of BIA BFP strongly correlated with BMI, SFT and waist circumference, whereas BIA BFP measurement showed weak-moderate correlation with leptin level.ConclusionBioelectrical impedance analysis was found to be an accurate measure of BFP in obesity. In addition, BIA may prevent the incorrect diagnosis of obesity as determined by BMI alone, especially in boys during the pubertal period.

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