Search

Peer reviewed: True, Acknowledgements: We thank John Reilly for his advice on data sources and data access; Cara L Eckhardt, Josephine Avila, Igor Y Kon, and Jinzhong Wang from the Eckhardt et al study23; and all staff involved in recruitment and data collection from the included studies. Data gathered from South Africa was supported by South Africa Medical Research Council and National Research Foundation., Objective To evaluate the performance of a UK based prediction model for estimating fat-free mass (and indirectly fat mass) in children and adolescents in non-UK settings. Design Individual participant data meta-analysis. Setting 19 countries. Participants 5693 children and adolescents (49.7% boys) aged 4 to 15 years with complete data on the predictors included in the UK based model (weight, height, age, sex, and ethnicity) and on the independently assessed outcome measure (fat-free mass determined by deuterium dilution assessment). Main outcome measures The outcome of the UK based prediction model was natural log transformed fat-free mass (lnFFM). Predictive performance statistics of R2 , calibration slope, calibration-in-the-large, and root mean square error were assessed in each of the 19 countries and then pooled through random effects meta-analysis. Calibration plots were also derived for each country, including flexible calibration curves. Results The model showed good predictive ability in non-UK populations of children and adolescents, providing R2 values of >75% in all countries and >90% in 11 of the 19 countries, and with good calibration (ie, agreement) of observed and predicted values. Root mean square error values (on fat-free mass scale) were

Malnutrition is a common problem in children with end-stage liver disease (ESLD), and accurate assessment of nutritional status is essential in managing these children. In a retrospective study, we compared nutritional assessment by anthropometry with that by body composition. We analyzed all consecutive measurements of total body potassium (TBK, n = 186) of children less than 3 years old with ESLD awaiting transplantation found in our database. The TBK values obtained by whole body counting of 40K were compared with reference TBK values of healthy children. The prevalence of malnutrition, as assessed by weight (weight Z score < -2) was 28%, which was significantly lower (chi-square test, p < 0.0001) than the prevalence of malnutrition (76%) assessed by TBK (< 90% of expected TBK for age). These results demonstrated that body weight underestimated the nutritional deficit and stressed the importance of measuring body composition as part of assessing nutritional status of children with ESLD.

Background: Alterations in energy expenditure during activity post head injury has not been investigated due primarily to the difficulty of measurement. Objective: The aim of this study was to compare energy expenditure during activity and body composition of children following acquired brain injury (ABI) with data from a group of normal. controls. Design: Energy expenditure was measured using the Cosmed K4b(2) in a group of 15 children with ABI and a group of 67 normal children during rest and when walking and running. Mean number of steps taken per 3 min run was also recorded and body composition was measured. Results: The energy expended during walking was not significantly different between both groups. A significant difference was found between the two groups in the energy expended during running and also for the number of steps taken as children with ABI took significantly less steps than the normal controls during a 3 min run. Conclusions: Children with ABI exert more energy per activity than healthy controls when controlled for velocity or distance. However, they expend less energy to walk and run when they are free to choose their own desirable, comfortable pace than normal controls. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Objective: To investigate measures aimed at defining the nutritional status of cystic fibrosis (CF) populations, this study compared standard anthropometric measurements and total body potassium (TBK) as indicators of malnutrition. Methods: Height, weight, and TBK measurements of 226 children with CF from Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, Australia, were analyzed. Z scores for height for age, weight for age, and weight for height were analyzed by means of the National Centre for Health Statistics reference. TBK was measured by means of whole body counting and compared with predicted TBK for age. Two criteria were evaluated with respect to malnutrition: (1) a z score < –2.0 and (2) a TBK for age