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Review
. 2021 May 12;13(5):1620.
doi: 10.3390/nu13051620.

Assessment of Body Composition in Athletes: A Narrative Review of Available Methods with Special Reference to Quantitative and Qualitative Bioimpedance Analysis

Francesco Campa  1 , Stefania Toselli  2 , Massimiliano Mazzilli  3 , Luís Alberto Gobbo  4 , Giuseppe Coratella  5
Affiliations
Review

Assessment of Body Composition in Athletes: A Narrative Review of Available Methods with Special Reference to Quantitative and Qualitative Bioimpedance Analysis

Francesco Campa et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Body composition is acknowledged as a determinant of athletic health and performance. Its assessment is crucial in evaluating the efficiency of a diet or aspects related to the nutritional status of the athlete. Despite the methods traditionally used to assess body composition, bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) and bioelectric impedance vector analysis (BIVA) have recently gained attention in sports, as well as in a research context. Only until recently have specific regression equations and reference tolerance ellipses for athletes become available, while specific recommendations for measurement procedures still remain scarce. Therefore, the present narrative review summarizes the current literature regarding body composition analysis, with a special focus on BIA and BIVA. The use of specific technologies and sampling frequencies is described, and recommendations for the assessment of body composition in athletes are provided. Additionally, the estimation of body composition parameters (i.e., quantitative analysis) and the interpretation of the raw bioelectrical data (i.e., qualitative analysis) are examined, highlighting the innovations now available in athletes. Lastly, it should be noted that, up until 2020, the use of BIA and BIVA in athletes failed to provide accurate results due to unspecific equations and references; however, new perspectives are now unfolding for researchers and practitioners. In light of this, BIA and especially BIVA can be utilized to monitor the nutritional status and the seasonal changes in body composition in athletes, as well as provide accurate within- and between-athlete comparisons.

Keywords: BIVA; bioelectric impedance vector analysis; hydration; localized BIA; nutritional status; phase angle; segmental bioimpedance; tolerance ellipses.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure A1
Figure A1
Summary of the search and screening methods implemented in this narrative review.
Figure 1
Figure 1
The compartment models to evaluate body composition are shown.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The number of articles per year from 2000 to 2020 using bioimpedance in athletes (upper panel), and the number of articles per device (lower panel) are shown.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The paradigm of the bioelectric impedance analysis is shown.
Figure 4
Figure 4
The recommendations for the measurement procedures using bioimpedance analysis are depicted and summarized.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The body composition parameters assessed by the bioimpedance analysis in the literature are listed (left column). The reference method for assessing each parameter is shown in the central column. The number of studies using unspecific, specific, or manufacturer regression equations is shown (right column).
Figure 6
Figure 6
The reference tolerance ellipses for general and athletic populations are shown.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Classic and specific Bioelectrical Impedance Vector Analysis (BIVA).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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