A Concordia-led research team has created one of the first reference charts showing how children's adipose (fat) and muscle levels change with age and sex - a breakthrough that could help identify young people at risk for future heart and metabolic diseases.
Unlike the familiar body mass index (BMI), which does not distinguish fat from muscle, this study examined both fat and muscle mass data from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of more than 6,000 U.S. children. The team then developed new growth curves for fat and muscle and applied them to a group of Quebec children followed from age 8 to 17.
Using these data, the researchers defined four body composition types: low fat-high muscle (LA-HM), high fat-high muscle (HA-HM), low fat-low muscle (LA-LM), and high fat-low muscle (HA-LM).
The last group, HA-LM, was identified as being at the greatest risk for sarcopenic obesity, a condition that makes it harder to move, stay active, or remain healthy as people age. Children with high fat, regardless of muscle level, tended to have lower "good" cholesterol, higher triglycerides and greater insulin resistance - all early warning signs for cardiovascular disease.
This study is the first to build age- and sex-specific fat and muscle reference charts for youth, bridging a major gap between childhood and adult assessments. By moving beyond BMI, this approach offers a clearer picture of children's health and development.
The researchers hope these findings will lead to better screening tools, allowing doctors to detect at-risk children earlier and tailor interventions more precisely to help prevent chronic disease before it takes root.
The study was published in the journal Pediatric Obesity.
Stephanie Saputra, MSc 2023, and Lisa Kakinami, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, led the study. Other co-authors include Simone Brugiapaglia, associate professor, Mathematics and Statistics; Claudia Faustini, MSc 2023; Andraea Van Hulst from McGill University; and Mélanie Henderson from Université de Montréal.
Read the cited paper: "Development and Application of Children's Sex- and Age-Specific Fat-Mass and Muscle-Mass Reference Curves From Dual-Energy X-Ray Absorptiometry Data for Predicting Cardiometabolic Risk"
