The Accuracy of Anthropometric Equations to Assess Body Fat in Adults with Down Syndrome

Effects of exercise, physical activity, and sports on physical fitness in adults with Down syndrome: A systematic review

This systematic review aimed to analyze the effects of exercise, physical activity, and sports on physical fitness in adults with Down syndrome (DS). A literature search was conducted across four databases EBSCO, Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed. The PRISMA guidelines were followed. The PEDro scale and the Cochrane risk of bias tool were used to assess the quality and risk of the studies, respectively. The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (code: CRD42023449627). Of the 423 records initially found, 13 were finally included in the systematic review, in which 349 adults with DS participated. 92% of the articles declared at least one significant difference post-intervention. The available evidence indicates that exercise, physical activity, and sports have a positive effect on some variables of physical fitness, especially strength, balance, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, flexibility, and functional capacity. Furthermore, it should be considered as an additional treatment or complementary therapy to improve the functionality and quality of life of adults with DS.

[Estimation of fat mass by anthropometric indicators in young people with Down syndrome]

INTRODUCTION

the assessment of body composition is relevant and useful for designing interventions for healthy lifestyles and nutritional strategies.

OBJECTIVE

our goal was to verify the relationships between adiposity indicators with fat mass (FM), and to validate equations that allow predicting FM in young people with Down syndrome (SD).

METHODS

a cross-sectional study was carried out in 48 young people with DS (24 men and 24 women). Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) were evaluated. Body mass index (BMI), body adiposity index (BAI), waist-to-hip index (WHI), and waist-to-height index (WHtR) were calculated. FM was evaluated by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

RESULTS

age in men was 19.3 ± 3.0 years, and in women it was 18.9 ± 1.9 years; weight was 73.6 ± 14.3 kg in men and 75.8 ± 20.3 kg in women, and height in men was 168.9 ± 6.5 cm, and in women it was 156.3 ± 6.2 cm. In males the correlations between FM (DXA) with BMI, WC, HC, WHtR, BAI and WHtR ranged from r = 0.01 to r = 0.89, and in females from r = 0.10 to r = 0.97. The highest correlations were observed with BMI and WC in both sexes (males r = 0.78 to 0.92, and females r = 0.83 to 0.97). Regression equations were generated to estimate FM in males (R2 = 84 %) and in females (R2 = 96 %). Percentiles were calculated for MG per DXA and for each equation.

CONCLUSIONS

there were significant positive correlations between BMI and WC with FM. These indicators were decisive for developing equations that estimate FM in young people with DS. The results suggest its potential use and application to evaluate, classify and monitor body fat levels in clinical and epidemiological contexts.