Nutrition Science and Everyday Application - beta v 0.1

INDICATORS OF HEALTH: BMI, BODY COMPOSITION, AND METABOLIC HEALTH 389
Figure 7.12. Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA)
Keep in mind that body composition can be hard to measure accurately when using
inexpensive and accessible techniques like skinfold testing and BIA. Your best bet is to pick
one method and use that method over time to compare numbers and see how they change.
Just don’t get too hung up on the actual number, as the accuracy will be questionable
depending on the method chosen.
MEASURING FAT DISTRIBUTION
Total body fat is one predictor of health; another is how the fat is distributed in the body.
The location of fat is important, because people who store fat more centrally (apple-shaped)
have a higher risk for chronic disease—like cardiovascular disease and type 2
diabetes—compared to people who store fat in the hips, thighs, and buttocks (pear-shaped).
This is because visceral fat that surrounds vital organs (common in central obesity or appleshaped
fat patterning) is more metabolically active, releasing more hormones and
inflammatory factors thought to contribute to disease risk compared to subcutaneous fat.