Clinical Research Casts Doubt On Accuracy Of Obesity Measurements

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 14 May 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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The Body Benchmark Study was launched in March 2007, with the goal of developing the Body Volume Index (BVI) as a potential long-term replacement for the Body Mass Index (BMI) for the measurement of obesity and associated health risks. Now, the latest results in the ongoing research aimed at validating its use in a medical context are showing more accuracy than results from using a tape measure.

Following the first clinical research for the validation of BVI, undertaken by Heartlands NHS Hospital in Birmingham, England, Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, USA, has presented its own research comparing manual and computer measurements.

In a study of 80 patients under strict observational and scientific conditions, waist and hip measurements taken manually and by a 3D BVI Body Scanner were compared, highlighting significant variances between using a tape measure and the scanner. The two variables were obtained by taking two measurements from the same patient at intervals, either manually or by 3D scan and then comparing the differences between the same measurement techniques in terms of their reproducibility to see which was the more accurate. All measurements were taken with at least one observer present.

The mean difference for the waist measured manually was 3.01cm ± 0.25cm as against 1.1cm ± 0.1cm from the scanner. The mean difference for the hip measured manually was 2.81cm ± 0.43 cm as against 0.9cm ± 0.15cm from the scanner.

The results of the study show that the 3D scanner is a valid, reliable and reproducible method to measure waist and hip circumferences.

Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez and Dr Yoel Korenfeld Kaplan presented the research findings at the annual American Heart Association (AHA) Conference in Tampa, Florida in March. The long-term future of obesity measurement was further discussed in Dr Lopez-Jimenez's Editorial in The Lancet1 on March 28 highlighting research on the associations between BMI and total and disease-specific morbidity. The data involved analysis on 900,000 participants.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) provides an indication of whether a patient's weight is appropriate in proportion to his or her height. However, medical experts recognise the limitations of BMI and that a patient's body shape and where body fat is stored on the body also need to be considered to more clearly diagnose obesity and the associated health risks for individual patients.

The Body Volume Index (BVI) - a risk indicator based on the distribution of a patient's weight and fat, body composition and shape, rather than body mass alone, is quick and completely automated, avoiding the need to use a tape measure.

About BVI

-- Using completely safe computer technology, BVI enables healthcare professionals to differentiate between patients with the same BMI rating taking other healthcare factors plus age, gender and ethnicity of the patient into account.

-- The Body Volume Index (BVI) is a new computer-based method of measuring the human body based on body volume split by body part, attaching importance factors to the most important risk areas, such as the abdominal area. This is a way of:

- Measuring an individual's shape and the volume percentage of the abdomen
- Measuring differences in body shape between people with the same BMI rating
- Tracking an individual's data over time to assess the changes in a person's shape
- Creating a health risk indicator by combining a person's 3D shape with his/her medical statistics and data such as age, gender, ethnicity, blood test results and percent body fat
- Automatic collation of body measurement data so as to avoid repetition and to reduce costs of manual data collection

About the 3D BVI Scanner

The BVI Scanner involves no contact, extracts body measurement data at a rate of 20 measurements per second, is completely safe, involving no radiation or lasers and extracts eight part body volume and hundreds of linear measurements in less than seven seconds, plus BMI, Waist Circumference and Waist to Hip ratio.

Source
Body Benchmark