Body fat in children with chronic kidney disease - A comparative study of bio-impedance analysis with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry

Introduction: Nutritional impairment in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is due to decreased body stores of both protein and fat. We need a tool that can be used in clinics to determine and monitor fat composition with a special focus on normalizing fat measurements to height in these children. Bio-impedance analysis (BIA), a portable and simple tool, has been used to estimate body fat in children with CKD but needs validation against the reference tool dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The purpose of the cross-sectional study was to estimate the prevalence of low body fat in children with stages 2-5 CKD (non-dialysis) and CKD 5D (dialysis), and to compare fat measures from two different methods namely BIA and DXA. Method: Children in stages 2–5 CKD (n = 19) and in CKD 5D (n = 14) were recruited for assessment of fat mass (FM, Kg) by BIA and DXA, from which percent body fat (BF %) and fat mass index (FMI, Kg/M2) were obtained. Low body fat was defined as