• Li Zhang, Ting Zhang, Hui-Juan Liu, De-Qiang Xing, Ya-Nan Zhao, Yi-Bing Zhang, and Yan Li.
• Research Center for Child Health, Department of Child Health Care, Key Laboratory of Birth Regulation and Control Technology of National Health Commission of China, Shandong Provincial Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital Affiliated to Qingdao University, Jinan, China.
• Nutrition. 2023 Dec 1; 116: 112169112169.

ObjectivesBody composition is an integral part of the nutritional assessment during infancy as it is closely related to future health. The three-dimensional photonic body surface scanning (3-DPS) method is a promising new technique for measuring body composition in children because of its advantages of easy operation, low cost, and no exposure to radiation. Using 3-DPS, this study aimed to illustrate the growth trajectories of body composition indicators during infancy according to sex and age.MethodsThis was a multicenter cross-sectional study. The body compositions of 9644 singleton term infants from four centers in Shandong Province, China, were assessed using 3-DPS. The data of 8769 healthy infants (52.0% boys), whose z scores of weight-for-length, length-for-age, and weight-for-age, according to World Health Organization standards, were in the range of -2 to 2, -3 to 3, and -3 to 3, respectively, were sampled to construct percentile curves of fat mass (FM), fat-free mass (FFM), FM percentage (FM%), FM index (FMI), and FFM index (FFMI) with the generalized additive model for location, scale, and shape method.ResultsPercentile charts for FM, FFM, FM%, FMI, and FFMI were developed based on age and sex. FM and FFM presented consistent trajectories with that of weight, with the fastest growth occurring at 1 to 3 mo of age. FM%, FMI, and FFMI increased with age, peaked at 6 mo, and gradually declined, which was consistent with the body mass index trend. All indicators, except for FFMI, were always significantly higher in boys than in girls ages 1 to 12 mo, indicating that sex differences in body composition existed mainly in FM rather than in lean body mass.ConclusionsThe body composition of healthy singleton term infants during infancy varies with age; boys may have more FM accumulation than girls.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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