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The ratio of skeletal muscle to adipose tissue-free body mass (SM/ATFM) was examined in a large cohort of healthy adults, including 139 men and 165 women. The effect of disease on the SM/ATFM ratio was also explored with a group of AIDS patients.

The study of human body composition is a branch of human biology that focuses on the quantification of body components, the relationships between them, and their quantitative changes related to influencing factors. Ancient study of the body was not based on experiments. The Arab Avicenna provided knowledge of organ size in the 11th century. Considerable body composition data is accumulated through cadaver dissection.

Objectives: Recent reports on body regional mass scalings to height have advanced understanding differences in adult heights. These studies resulted in conjectures on how regional lengths and circumferences may scale to height. We provide evidence for these conjectures by analyzing a large sample of regional limb, trunk, chest, and head lengths and circumferences in a large sample of US Army basic training recruits. Methods: Participants consisted of 10 271 males and 2760 females ages 17 to 21 years old who reported for basic training at Fort Jackson, SC. Participants were imaged by a three‐dimensional (3D) body scanner for uniform sizing which yielded 159 body measurements of total mass, lengths and circumferences at regional sites of arms, legs, trunk, chest, and head. The allometric model, Body Measurei=αiHβi was applied to derive scaling exponents which were applied to estimate regional mass scalings. Results: Body mass scaled to height with powers of ∼2.0 (mean β ± SE, 1.98 ± 0.04, 1.93 ± 0.06). Arm and leg lengths scaled to exponents larger than 1.0 and head height and circumferences at regional sites scaled to exponents smaller than 1.0. The leg, arm, and trunk mass scaling exponents were all above 2.0. Head mass scaled to powers smaller than 2.0. Conclusions: The 3D scanner allowed hundreds of anthropometric measurements to be obtained within seconds. The ensuing analysis revealed that greater height yielded disproportional increases in limb lengths, limb mass and trunk mass. These analyses provide evidence that could not be previously measured that further both biomechanical and metabolic conjectures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Objectives Adult body mass (MB) empirically scales as height (Ht) squared (MB ∝ Ht2), but does regional body mass and body composition as a whole also scale as Ht2? This question is relevant to a wide range of biological topics, including interpretation of body mass index (BMI). Methods Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to quantify regional body mass [head (MH), trunk, arms, and legs] and whole-body composition [fat, lean soft tissue (LST), and bone mineral content (BMC)] in non-Hispanic (NH) white, NH black, Mexican American, and Korean adults participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES; n = 17,126) and Korean NHANES ( n = 8,942). Regression models were developed to establish Ht scaling powers for each measured component with adjustments for age and adiposity. Results Exploratory analyses revealed a consistent scaling pattern across men and women of the four population groups: regional mass powers, head (∼0.8-1) < arms and trunk (∼1.8-2.3) < legs (∼2.3-2.6); and body composition, LST (∼2.0-2.3) < BMC (∼2.1-2.4). Small sex and population differences in scaling powers were also observed. As body mass scaled uniformly across the eight sex and population groups as Ht∼2, tall and short subjects differed in body shape (e.g., MH/MB ∝ Ht−∼1) and composition. Conclusions Adult human body shape and relative composition are a function of body size as represented by stature, a finding that reveals a previously unrecognized phenotypic heterogeneity as defined by BMI. These observations provide new pathways for exploring mechanisms governing the interrelations between adult stature, body morphology, biomechanics, and metabolism. Am. J. Hum. Biol., 27:372-379, 2015. . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the results of a research aimed at comparing men's and women's specific resting metabolic rates (Ki) of major organs and tissues in non-obese subjects aged 20- 49 years. It cites the previous Ki values submitted by Elia in 1992 who measured and evaluated whole body resting energy expenditure (REE) rates, noting that gender influences on such Ki values were not established. The study noted that men exhibited higher values than women, thus validating Elia's earlier data.