Measurement of longitudinal changes in body composition during weight loss and maintenance in overweight and obese subjects using air-displacement plethysmography in comparison with the deuterium dilution technique.

BACKGROUND: Air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) may be a valid and practical technique to assess body composition in a clinical setting.
OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess longitudinal changes in body composition using ADP and to compare it with the deuterium dilution technique.
DESIGN: The study was a 6-months dietary intervention, consisting of four phases. The first month, subjects were fed in energy balance (phase I). This was followed by 1 month with an energy intake of 33% of energy requirements (phase II), followed by 2 months at 67% of energy requirements (phase III) and 2 months of ad libitum intake (phase IV). Body composition was assessed using ADP (Bod Pod) and deuterium dilution at baseline and at the end of each phase. The baseline analysis included 111 subjects (88 female). Sixty-one subjects (50 female) completed all measurements and were included in the longitudinal analysis.
RESULTS: At baseline, the fat mass (FM) as assessed with the Bod Pod was on average 2.3 ± 4.2 kg (mean ± 2 s.d.) higher than that assessed with deuterium dilution. The difference in FM between techniques increased significantly with increasing FM (R(2)=0.23; P<0.001). Both techniques showed significant changes in FM over time P<0.001). On average, FM as assessed with the Bod Pod was 2.0 kg higher than with deuterium dilution (P<0.001). During phase II, there was a significant interaction between time and method, meaning that the Bod Pod showed a larger decrease in FM than deuterium dilution.
CONCLUSIONS: The Bod Pod was able to detect all changes in the body composition, but consistently measured a higher FM than deuterium dilution.