Body composition is a universal term used in the health and fitness industry. Doctors mainly use body composition to find out what percentage of body weight is a muscle and what percentage is fat. It is particularly important here that the measurement results can be easily reproduced under everyday working conditions in medicine.
The distribution of the fat mass also plays a major role: the health risk is greater with visceral fat accumulation (in the abdominal region) than with fat accumulation in the hips. This visceral fat produces a particularly large number of fatty acids, which are converted into other fats in the liver. The increase in internal abdominal fat therefore also increases the risk of secondary diseases, in particular, the following diseases and symptoms occur more frequently: heart attack, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes mellitus, cancer, and Alzheimer’s
Accurate assessment of body composition is therefore crucial because people of the same height, weight, and consequently BMI, have different percentages of body fat and muscle. A bodybuilder would almost certainly be obese if BMI were used to assess overweight. The BMI therefore, has only limited significance.
BIA devices measure the resistance of the current on its “path” through the body and provides an accurate assessment of body water, i.e. lean and muscle mass, and its hydration. Body fat is calculated from the impedance values using selected equations. It cannot be determined in which body regions the body fat is located.
As a complex, high-resolution procedure, Magnetic Resonance Imaging can measure both the subcutaneous and the visceral fat volume with good precision. For routine purposes, however, the process is still too complex and too expensive.
The Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) measurement simultaneously uses two energetically slightly different X-ray sources. In this way, the different types of tissue can be distinguished and compared (bone, muscle, and fat tissue). The method analyzes the composition of the individual body regions, is complex but very precise, but costs far too much for screening purposes.
For the first time, the FYO system analyzes abdominal fat mass with little effort and at a very low cost. With a single lateral photo, the fat mass, lean mass, and abdominal mass as well as the diameter of countless body regions are determined. In a validation study, the high accuracy and reproducibility of the results were checked using the best reference methods (DEXA).
The increase of fat mass, especially abdominal fat mass, is a valuable indicator in weight management, diabetology, nutritional medicine, and general medicine. The key figure WHtR (Waist-to-Height Ratio) is considered the best indicator to assess a cardio-metabolic risk. The reproducibility of tape measurements has been improved with the FYO revolutionary system.
