Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24829484›Full record

ArticleAdvances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.)2014

Toward body composition reference data for infants, children, and adolescents.

Jonathan C K Wells

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
86citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

86 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  6. Cord Blood Adipocytokines and Body Composition in Early Childhood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
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  12. Weight Bias Internalisation and Health-Related Quality of Life in Adolescents: What Role Do Family Meals Play?European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026
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  16. Observational
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26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author.

Jonathan C K WellsChildhood Nutrition Research Centre, University College London Institute of Child Health, London, UK jonathan.wells@ucl.ac.uk.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Growth charts for weight and height have provided the basis for assessment of children's nutritional status for over half a century, with charts for body mass index (BMI) introduced in the 1990s. However, BMI does not provide information on the proportions of fat and lean mass; and within the past decade, growth charts for children's body composition have been produced by using techniques such as skinfold thicknesses, body circumferences, bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). For public health research, BIA and skinfold thicknesses show negligible average bias but have wider limits of agreement than specialized techniques. For patients, DXA is the best individual method, but multicomponent models remain ideal because they address perturbations in lean mass composition. Data can be expressed in age- and sex-specific SD scores, in some cases adjusting for height. Most such reference data derive from high-income countries, but techniques such as air-displacement plethysmography allow infant body composition growth charts to be developed in low- and middle-income settings, where the data may improve understanding of the effects of low birth weight, wasting, and stunting on body composition. Recent studies suggest that between-population variability in body composition may derive in part from genetic factors, suggesting a universal human body composition reference may not be viable. Body composition growth charts may be extended into adult life to evaluate changes in fat and lean mass through the entire life course. These reference data will improve the understanding of the association between growth, body composition, health, and disease.

Indexed as

Body CompositionAbsorptiometry, PhotonAdipose TissueAdolescentBody Mass IndexBody WeightChildChild, PreschoolDatabases, FactualElectric ImpedanceFemaleHumansInfantMaleNutritional StatusNutrition Assessment

Identifiers

PMID24829484
PMCPMC4013189

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.