Interpretation Of Results

Interpretation

Once the data is entered into your software program, you can start to interpret the results. The numbers you will see include either pounds or kilograms of body cell mass, extracellular mass, and fat mass. The sum of body cell mass and extracellular mass represents the total fat-free mass.

An individual’s optimal body composition may vary and evaluation is optimally conducted by comparing tests to optimal, healthy baselines. Unfortunately, tests are not often taken prior to the existence of nutrition-related risk. To establish a more general baseline to compare clients to and for our purposes here, we will use a set of "reference" values for men and women. Men carry a mean body fat of approximately 15% while women carry 25% of their weight as body fat. A range of 10-22% of body weight as fat in men and 20-32% in women is considered reasonable.[82] The remainder is expressed as fat-free mass with men carrying about 78-90% of a good body weight as FFM and women carrying approximately 68-80% as FFM. Splitting the FFM out into sub-compartments, we would expect about half of the FFM to be BCM in men. Women generally carry less muscle than men. In women, this means that their fat-free mass (we are not talking total weight this time) is generally around 45% BCM and 55% ECT. This works fairly well, if the person is at a good weight. If their weight is low, wasting and risk for poor body function may be missed by calculating BCM on current body weight. Therefore, we base BCM goals on height and frame size (ideal body weight). Table 4 shows values for ideal body weight (IBW) according to height and frame size.

Table 5 shows goal BCM for height and frame size in non-obese individuals. Fat and ECM weight should change with body weight changes to accommodate additional needs for fluids and calorie excess or deficit. Table 6 shows estimated ranges for ECM and fat.

Table 4. Ideal Body Weights According to Frame Size* [83] [84]

Ht (inches)	Ht (cm)	Men: Ideal Body Weight			Women: Ideal Body Weight
Ht (inches)	Ht (cm)	Small Frame	Medium Frame	Large Frame	Small Frame	Medium Frame	Large Frame
60	152.4	95.4	106	116.6	90	100	110
61	154.94	100.8	112	123.2	94.5	105	115.5
61.5	156.21	103.5	115	126.5	96.75	107.5	118.25
62	157.48	106.2	118	129.8	99	110	121
62.5	158.75	108.9	121	133.1	101.25	112.5	123.75
63	160.02	111.6	124	136.4	103.5	115	126.5
63.5	161.29	114.3	127	139.7	105.75	117.5	129.25
64	162.56	117	130	143	108	120	132
64.5	163.83	119.7	133	146.3	110.25	122.5	134.75
65	165.1	122.4	136	149.6	112.5	125	137.5
65.5	166.37	125.1	139	152.9	114.75	127.5	140.25
66	167.64	127.8	142	156.2	117	130	143
66.5	168.91	130.5	145	159.5	119.25	132.5	145.75
67	170.18	133.2	148	162.8	121.5	135	148.5
67.5	171.45	135.9	151	166.1	123.75	137.5	151.25
68	172.72	138.6	154	169.4	126	140	154
68.5	173.99	141.3	157	172.7	128.25	142.5	156.75
69	175.26	144	160	176	130.5	145	159.5
69.5	176.53	146.7	163	179.3	132.75	147.5	162.25
70	177.8	149.4	166	182.6	135	150	165
70.5	179.07	152.1	169	185.9	137.25	152.5	167.75
71	180.34	154.8	172	189.2	139.5	155	170.5
71.5	181.61	157.5	175	192.5	141.75	157.5	173.25
72	182.88	160.2	178	195.8	144	160	176
72.5	184.15	162.9	181	199.1	146.25	162.5	178.75
73	185.42	165.6	184	202.4	148.5	165	181.5
73.5	186.69	168.3	187	205.7	150.75	167.5	184.25
74	187.96	171	190	209	153	170	187
74.5	189.23	173.7	193	212.3	155.25	172.5	189.75
75	190.5	176.4	196	215.6	157.5	175	192.5
75.5	191.77	179.1	199	218.9	159.75	177.5	195.25
76	193.04	181.8	202	222.2	162	180	198
76.5	194.31	184.5	205	225.5	164.25	182.5	200.75
77	195.58	187.2	208	228.8	166.5	185	203.5

*based on "r" values calculated by dividing height in cm by wrist circumference in cm; men: >10.4 = small frame, 9.6-10.4 = medium frame, <9.6 = large frame; women: >11.0 = small frame, 10.1-11.0 = medium frame, <10.1 = small frame. Source: Grant J. Handbook of Total Parenteral Nutrition. Philadelphia: WBSaunders, 1980

Table 5. Ideal Body Cell Mass for Sex, Height, and Frame Size in Non-Obese Individuals

Ht (in)	Men			Women
Ht (in)	Small Frame	Medium Frame	Large Frame	Small Frame	Medium Frame	Large Frame
60	38.16	42.4	46.64	27	30	33
61	40.32	44.8	49.28	28.35	31.5	34.65
62	42.48	47.2	51.92	29.7	33	36.3
63	44.64	49.6	54.56	31.05	34.5	37.95
64	46.8	52	57.2	32.4	36	39.6
65	48.96	54.4	59.84	33.75	37.5	41.25
66	51.12	56.8	62.48	35.1	39	42.9
67	53.28	59.2	65.12	36.45	40.5	44.55
68	55.44	61.6	67.76	37.8	42	46.2
69	57.6	64	70.4	39.15	43.5	47.85
70	59.76	66.4	73.04	40.5	45	49.5
71	61.92	68.8	75.68	41.85	46.5	51.15
72	64.08	71.2	78.32	43.2	48	52.8
73	66.24	73.6	80.96	44.55	49.5	54.45
74	68.4	76	83.6	45.9	51	56.1
75	70.56	78.4	86.24	47.25	52.5	57.75
76	72.72	80.8	88.88	48.6	54	59.4
77	74.88	83.2	91.52	49.95	55.5	61.05
78	77.04	85.6	94.16	51.3	57	62.7

Table 6. Expected Ranges of Fat and Extracelluar Mass (ECM) for Men Based on Current Body Weight (CBW) in Pounds

CBW	low range fat	high range fat	low range ECM	high range ECM
85	8.5	18.7	33.2	38.3
90	9	19.8	35.1	40.5
95	9.5	20.9	37.1	42.8
100	10	22	39	45.0
105	10.5	23.1	41.0	47.3
110	11	24.2	42.9	49.5
115	11.5	25.3	44.9	51.8
120	12	26.4	46.8	54.0
125	12.5	27.5	48.8	56.3
130	13	28.6	50.7	58.5
135	13.5	29.7	52.7	60.8
140	14	30.8	54.6	63.0
145	14.5	31.9	56.6	65.3
150	15	33	58.5	67.5
155	15.5	34.1	60.5	69.8
160	16	35.2	62.4	72.0
165	16.5	36.3	64.4	74.3
170	17	37.4	66.3	76.5
175	17.5	38.5	68.3	78.8
180	18	39.6	70.2	81.0
185	18.5	40.7	72.2	83.3
190	19	41.8	74.1	85.5
195	19.5	42.9	76.1	87.8
200	20	44	78	90.0
205	20.5	45.1	80.0	92.3
210	21	46.2	81.9	94.5
215	21.5	47.3	83.9	96.8
220	22	48.4	85.8	99
225	22.5	49.5	87.8	101.3
230	23	50.6	89.7	103.5
235	23.5	51.7	91.7	105.8
240	24	52.8	93.6	108.0
245	24.5	53.9	95.6	110.3
250	25	55	97.5	112.5
255	25.5	56.1	99.5	114.8
260	26	57.2	101.4	117.0
265	26.5	58.3	103.4	119.3
270	27	59.4	105.3	121.5
275	27.5	60.5	107.3	123.8
280	28	61.6	109.2	126.0
285	28.5	62.7	111.2	128.3
290	29	63.8	113.1	130.5
295	29.5	64.9	115.1	132.8
300	30	66	117	135.0

Table 7. Expected Ranges of Fat and Extracellular Mass (ECM) for Women Based on Current Body Weight (CBW) in Pounds

CBW	low range fat	high range fat	low range ECM	high range ECM
85	17	27.2	31.45	37.4
90	18	28.8	33.3	39.6
95	19	30.4	35.15	41.8
100	20	32	37	44
105	21	33.6	38.85	46.2
110	22	35.2	40.7	48.4
115	23	36.8	42.55	50.6
120	24	38.4	44.4	52.8
125	25	40	46.25	55
130	26	41.6	48.1	57.2
135	27	43.2	49.95	59.4
140	28	44.8	51.8	61.6
145	29	46.4	53.65	63.8
150	30	48	55.5	66
155	31	49.6	57.35	68.2
160	32	51.2	59.2	70.4
165	33	52.8	61.05	72.6
170	34	54.4	62.9	74.8
175	35	56	64.75	77
180	36	57.6	66.6	79.2
185	37	59.2	68.45	81.4
190	38	60.8	70.3	83.6
195	39	62.4	72.15	85.8
200	40	64	74	88
205	41	65.6	75.85	90.2
210	42	67.2	77.7	92.4
215	43	68.8	79.55	94.6
220	44	70.4	81.4	96.8
225	45	72	83.25	99
230	46	73.6	85.1	101.2
235	47	75.2	86.95	103.4
240	48	76.8	88.8	105.6
245	49	78.4	90.65	107.8
250	50	80	92.5	110
255	51	81.6	94.35	112.2
260	52	83.2	96.2	114.4
265	53	84.8	98.05	116.6
270	54	86.4	99.9	118.8
275	55	88	101.75	121
280	56	89.6	103.6	123.2
285	57	91.2	105.45	125.4
290	58	92.8	107.3	127.6
295	59	94.4	109.15	129.8
300	60	96	111	132

Notes on Interpreting Obese Patients is the next section

References:

[82] Lohman TG. Body compsition methodology in sports medicine. Phys Sports Med. 1982;10(12):47-58.

[83] Hamwi G. Changing dietary concepts. In: Danowski TS, ed. Diabetes Mellitus: Diagnosis and Treatment. New York, NY: American Diabetes Association; 1964.

[84] Grant A, DeHoog S. Nutritional Assessment and Support. Fourth Ed. Grant & DeHoog: Seattle, WA, 1991:13-18.