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Novel comparative analysis and equation development for body volume estimation using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in athletes

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 79, pages 740–747 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) has been suggested as an alternative method for estimating body volume (BV), a component of the reference four-compartment body composition model. This study reports the development and validation of DXA-BVSilva, a novel DXA-derived BV equation. An additional aim was to develop an estimate of lean soft tissue density (DLST), a key variable in the theory-based approach, by estimating total body protein with a six-compartment model.

Methods

A sample of 332 athletes (36.7% females) from several sports were randomly assigned to either the development (n = 232) or cross-validation group (n = 100). DXA-BVSilva was developed via linear regression of DXA-measured fat, lean soft tissue, and bone mineral mass against BV measured with air displacement plethysmography (ADP). A DLST estimate of 1.064 kg/L (SD = 0.006) was obtained from a subset of the development sample comprising 201 athletes (36.3% females) with available measurements of total-body water by deuterium dilution, bone mineral by DXA and BV by ADP, enabling total-body protein determination from a six-compartment model.

Results

DXA-BVSilva provided the closest BV estimation (mean difference = 0.05 L, SD = 0.46 L; ES [95% CI] = 0.11 [−0.08; 0.31]) and the 95% limits of agreement (−0.86 to 0.96 L) were narrower than existing empirical equations.

Conclusion

We conducted the first comparative analysis of both empirical and theoretical BV estimation methods using DXA, demonstrating the validity of DXA-BVSilva for BV estimation in athletes, presenting a robust alternative to ADP, with potential applications in multicomponent body composition models.

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Fig. 1: Bland-Altman analysis between the prediction equations BV and ADP-BV.
Fig. 2: Bland-Altman analysis between the prediction equations BV and ADP-BV.

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Data availability

Data described in the manuscript will be made available upon reasonable request pending application and approval to analiza@fmh.ulisboa.pt.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (grant no. PTDC/DES/098963/2008 and PTDC/DES/69495/2006). F.J. were supported with a PhD scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2021.07122.BD).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, no 823, 4150-180, Porto, Portugal

    Tiago R. Silva, Rui Poínhos & Vitor Hugo Teixeira

  2. Exercise and Health Laboratory, CIPER, Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz-Quebrada, Portugal

    Tiago R. Silva, Filipe Jesus, Luís B. Sardinha & Analiza M. Silva

  3. Research Centre in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure (CIAFEL), Faculty of Sports, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Vitor Hugo Teixeira

  4. Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR), Porto, Portugal

    Vitor Hugo Teixeira

  5. Al-Ittihad Football Club, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

    Vitor Hugo Teixeira

  6. Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LSU System, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

    Steven B. Heymsfield

Authors
  1. Tiago R. Silva
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Contributions

TRS: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing-Original draft preparation, FJ: Writing - Review & Editing, RP: Formal analysis, Writing - Review & Editing, LBS: Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding acquisition, VHT: Writing - Review & Editing, SBH: Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, AMS: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding Acquisition.

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Correspondence to Analiza M. Silva.

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Silva, T.R., Jesus, F., Poínhos, R. et al. Novel comparative analysis and equation development for body volume estimation using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry in athletes. Eur J Clin Nutr 79, 740–747 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-025-01594-1

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