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PubMed1983

Body size estimation and locus of control in obese adolescent boys undergoing weight reduction.

Body size estimation (BSE) and locus of control (LOC) were studied in 18 obese adolescent boys undergoing weight reduction. The subjects attended a seven-week summer camp which offered both increased activity and a 1200 kcal (5023 kJ)/d diet, resulting in an average weight loss of 29.2 +/- 6.3 lb (13.3 +/- 2.9 kg) and a decrease in body fat from 39.0 percent +/- 0.6 percent to 27.5 percent +/- 4.3 percent. Fatness was correlated with poor physical performance [1.5 mile (2.4 km) runs]. Weight reduction and decreased body fat resulted in an improved running time. BSE was assessed using self photographs distorted by an anamorphic lens. While subjects could correctly estimate their body size prior to weight reduction, after weight reduction they significantly underestimated body size. This finding contrasts with adults with juvenile-onset obesity who overestimate body size after weight reduction. LOC (measured by Nowicki-Strickland LOC Inventory) changed in the direction of internality after weight reduction. The use of exercise with the weight loss program may thus improve feelings of control and prevent overestimation of body size.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Relationships of body size, segmental dimensions, and ponderal equivalents to muscular strength in high-strength and low-strength subjects.

There are conflicting results in prior studies concerning the relationships among body size, muscle size, and muscular strength. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate how body size, body shape, and segmental dimensions related to individual differences in muscular strength. Subjects were tested on four dynamic measures of strength and then classified into one of two groups as high strength (HS; N = 21) and low strength (LS; N = 21). Individual differences in strength were then related to body composition and segmental anthropometry. Strength was assessed during high-resistance, low-velocity standing squat and supine bench press with an isokinetic dynamometer, and during seated bench press and knee extension with a hydraulic resistance dynamometer. Anthropometry and body composition included 11 girths, six fatfolds, predicted fat-free mass (FFM), thigh and upper arm volume, muscle + bone cross-sectional area (CSA), and the Behnke Ponderal Somatogram (PSom) body profiling system. There was a 21.3% difference in strength between HS and LS (p less than 0.05), but no significant differences in age, stature, and fatfolds. MANOVA revealed that seven of 11 girth components of PSom were larger for HS (p less than 0.05). The correlations between strength vs body mass, FFM, thigh and upper arm volume, and CSA and fatfolds in HS and LS ranged from r = -0.52 to 0.56 (r = -0.70 to 0.70 when corrected for restriction of range). We conclude that individual differences in muscular strength are poorly related to various measures of body size and segmental body dimensions.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

A comparison of body size evaluations of obesity surgery patients and general population adults.

OBJECTIVE: To compare post-operative obesity surgery patients and general population adults in their assessments of a wide range of body sizes. RESEARCH METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Obesity surgery patients (n = 274) and general population adults (n = 326) rated ideal and socially acceptable body sizes in separate arrays of babies, children, young adults, and middle-aged and older adults. Nine line figure drawings ranging from very thin to very obese were rated for each array. RESULTS: Both groups selected the same ideal body size for all arrays except for babies. Both groups rejected obese and very thin body sizes as socially acceptable. However, the obesity surgery patients were more restrictive than general population adults in their ratings of socially acceptable body sizes. Current obesity status did not impact ratings for the patient or general population subjects. In the patient sample, time since surgery did not influence body size evaluations. DISCUSSION: The study of body size ratings limited only to the "ideal" size may be misleading because it may mask subtle but meaningful differences between groups. The consistent difference in more restrictive ratings of obesity surgery patients compared to general population adults may be due to patients' greater psychological investment in endorsing the societal ideal body size. It may also be due to patients' status as peripheral group members of the normal weight community. The inability of some patients to maintain their post-operative weight loss may be particularly problematic for those who have defined "socially acceptable" body size most narrowly.

Adult↗
PubMed1993

Skin color and body size as risk factors for osteoporosis.

We compared skin color, body size and bone mineral density (BMD) among three groups of postmenopausal women: 104 healthy black women, 45 healthy white women, and 52 osteoporotic white women with vertebral fractures. Skin color was measured by reflectometry, stature with a Harpenden stadiometer, weight with digital scales, and radial BMD by single photon absorptiometry. There were no significant differences in mean skin color (age-adjusted) between the healthy and osteoporotic white women, although both white groups differed from the black group. There was no significant correlation between skin color and BMD (age- and weight/height-adjusted) in any of the groups. All three groups differed significantly in age-adjusted BMD, although there was less difference between the healthy blacks and whites when covariates (body size, age) were taken into account. We further investigated body size differences by estimating stature at age 55 in all three groups based on our observations that osteoporotic women with vertebral fractures lose height at a rate that is 2.6 times faster than that of healthy aging women. Our analyses indicate that the osteoporotics were not shorter than the normals before the onset of their disease (based on estimated height), and do not have a significantly smaller body mass (weight/height and weight/height 2) than the normal white women. Additionally, the osteoporotics are above the ideal body mass index recommended by the National Institutes of Health. We conclude that fair skin is not a risk factor for osteoporosis and that large body size is not protective against the development of osteoporosis, although it may have a salutary effect on BMD in both blacks and whites.

Aged↗
PubMed1998

Does body mass index adequately capture the relation of body composition and body size to health outcomes?

Body mass index (BMI) has become the most commonly used index of body composition in epidemiologic research. It has displaced weight, height, and other measures of body composition. In this paper, the authors show that use of BMI alone does not always capture adequately the joint relation of body composition and body size to health outcomes, and that such use often represents implausible restrictions on the relation. Use of body mass index and height or weight and height will often be needed to describe this relation and to control confounding by these variables.

Adipose Tissue↗
PubMed1977

Body size and chronic acceleration.

Body composition studied as a function of acceleration (1-4.7 G) in mice and rats showed fat-free body mass (FFBM) to be a predictable function of G-force while corroborating the known lability of body fat. Of nine studied components of FFBM only skeletal muscle, liver and heart contributed to the observed changes induced by delta G. (Body water /FFBM) was independent of delta G. When FFBM (as a percentage of 1 G controls) was plotted against G for mice, rats and monkeys (1-4.7 G) and men (0-1 G), the mass of the fat-free compartment passed through a maximum at 1 G. The data distribution in the figure suggested possible effects of body size and of age.

Acceleration↗
PubMed1996

Determinants of body size perceptions and dieting behavior in a multiethnic group of hospital staff women.

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to identify determinants of body size perceptions and their relationship to dietary behavior in a multiethnic group of women. DESIGN: A single interview consisting of the Massara and Stunkard body image cards (1979) and questionnaires on sociocultural background, anthropometry, and dieting history were administered to volunteers from the staff of a hospital. SUBJECTS: The sample was a convenience sample of 186 women representing a range of staff positions recruited from Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY; 174 completed the study. Data on 150 women are presented in this article. RESULTS: Height and weight-for-height were stronger predictors of accuracy of perceived body size than ethnicity. Tall, slight women were more likely to overestimate and short, heavy women were more likely to underestimate actual body size. Ethnicity had an interactive effect with height as taller European Americans were more likely to perceive their body size as larger than actual compared with Afro-Caribbeans and African Americans. Women with a history of dieting were more likely to overestimate their size and to view it as different from what is perceived as attractive to others. APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, we conclude that body size is a stronger predictor of accuracy of perceived body size than ethnicity; and dieters overestimate their body size and believe it to be heavier than their social group would prefer.

Black or African American↗
PubMed1999

Perception of body size in the Tongan community: differences from and similarities to an Australian sample.

OBJECTIVE: The prevalence of obesity in Tonga is high and increasing. Attempts to address this major health issue would be assisted by a realistic concept of current and preferred body sizes. In this study, body size perception in Tongans was compared with that of Australians. DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparative study. SUBJECTS: 542 Tongans, 89 of whom were enrolled in a weight-loss programme (WLP); 481 Australians. MEASUREMENTS: Subjects were weighed and measured. Two series of photographs (one female, one male), representing specific body mass indexes (BMIs) were used to assess body perception. RESULTS: The BMIs of the Tongans were higher than those of the Australians (Tongans: female 32.6+/-0.35 (mean +/- s.e.m); male, 30.4+/-0.33; Australians: female, 25.6+/-0.33; male 26.3+/-0.26 kg/m2). Tongan women underestimated their body size; Tongan men and Australians overestimated. WLP and younger Tongan women preferred smaller body sizes for themselves and for men and women in general. There were gender differences in preferred healthy and attractive female sizes (men: 27 kg/m2; non-WLP women: 25 kg/m2; WLP women: 23 kg/m2) and male sizes (men: 29-30 kg/m2; women: 26-27 kg/m2 chosen by Tongans. Preferred, attractive and healthy body sizes chosen by Australian men and women were similar; about 24 kg/m2 for males and 21-22 kg/m2 for females. CONCLUSION: Tongans preferred larger body sizes than did Australians, particularly the men, but WLP women's preferences were similar to those of Australians. There is evidence that preferences are changing in Tonga with time, and probably with increasing Western influence.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between total transit time and faecal quality in adult dogs differing in body size.

Fed the same diet, large and giant-breed dogs have higher faecal moisture and increased frequency of soft stools than small ones. This could be the result of physiological differences, such as a different gastrointestinal transit time. In this study, we have correlated mean total transit time (MTT) with body size and faecal consistency in dogs varying in body size. Fifty dogs from 13 different breeds were used, from a Dachshund to a Great Dane. The MTT was determined using coloured plastic beads [Cummings and Wiggins, Gut, Vol. 17 (1976), p. 219], and faecal consistency was scored daily during the study. We confirmed the strong correlation between height at the shoulder (body size) and faecal score (r = 0.76; p < 0.0001). The MTT increased with body size, from 22 h for a Miniature Poodle to 59 h for a Giant Schnauzer. We found significant positive correlations (p < 0.0001) between MTT and body size as well as faecal scores (r = 0.71 and 0.70 respectively). In the present study, we observed an effect of body size on MTT. In our 50 healthy dogs a longer MTT was related to a poorer faecal quality. Previous studies reported no relationship between body size and the upper gastrointestinal transit time in healthy dogs. So, we hypothesized that body size would mainly affect colonic transit time and that a longer colonic residence time would be related to a poorer faecal quality by promoting fermentation activity.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

The influence of sexual dimorphism in body size and mouth morphology on diet selection and sexual segregation in cervids.

In mammals patterns of food resource distribution influence female distribution, leading to aggregation and favouring the evolution of a polygynous mating system. Under polygyny, sexual selection favours an increase of the male body size, since larger bodied males have competitive advantage in fights for mates. As a result, sexual body size dimorphism is a general rule in polygynous artiodactyls and is correlated with the degree of polygyny. Sex differences in body size lead to differences in energy requirements and food selection between the sexes. This has led to the sexual size dimorphism hypothesis being used to explain sexual segregation in ungulates, although from the available studies, it is not possible to deduce a consistent pattern between sexes in the use of forage of different abundance or quality. Two other groups of hypotheses have been put forward to explain sexual segregation in ungulates. These are based on reproductive strategy and social factors, both of which are independent of body size. The mechanistic explanation for differences in food selection ability and intake rate between animals of different body size and how this can lead to an understanding of the sex differences in diet and sexual segregation, both of which are intimately linked, is discussed.

Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena↗
PubMed1995

The association of body size and large bowel cancer risk in Wisconsin (United States) women.

Body size is associated with the risk of many diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. To evaluate the association of body size with large bowel cancer, height and weight measurements were ascertained by telephone interview from 779 Wisconsin (United States) women with newly reported diagnoses of carcinoma of the colon and rectum. Controls (n = 2,315) interviewed for this case-control study were selected randomly from Wisconsin driver's license files and Health Care Financing Administration files. The effects of weight and height were examined using multiple logistic regression to control for potential confounding variables. In this study, weight adjusted for height increased the risk of colon cancer (odds ratio [OR] for 72.57-148.33 kg cf 36.29-58.05 kg = 1.4, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] = 1.0-1.9) but did not increase the risk of rectal cancer. Height did not influence risk for cancer of either the colon or the rectum. Left-colon subsite analysis showed especially strong associations with current weight and with percent change in weight since age 18. These data suggest that a dose-response relationship exists between body size and risk of colon cancer in women; body size did not appear to influence risk of rectal cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

Body size as a latent variable in a structural equation model: thermal acclimation and energetics of the leaf-eared mouse.

Body size is one of the most important determinants of energy metabolism in mammals. However, the usual physiological variables measured to characterize energy metabolism and heat dissipation in endotherms are strongly affected by thermal acclimation, and are also correlated among themselves. In addition to choosing the appropriate measurement of body size, these problems create additional complications when analyzing the relationships among physiological variables such as basal metabolism, non-shivering thermogenesis, thermoregulatory maximum metabolic rate and minimum thermal conductance, body size dependence, and the effect of thermal acclimation on them. We measured these variables in Phyllotis darwini, a murid rodent from central Chile, under conditions of warm and cold acclimation. In addition to standard statistical analyses to determine the effect of thermal acclimation on each variable and the body-mass-controlled correlation among them, we performed a Structural Equation Modeling analysis to evaluate the effects of three different measurements of body size (body mass, m(b); body length, L(b) and foot length, L(f)) on energy metabolism and thermal conductance. We found that thermal acclimation changed the correlation among physiological variables. Only cold-acclimated animals supported our a priori path models, and m(b) appeared to be the best descriptor of body size (compared with L(b) and L(f)) when dealing with energy metabolism and thermal conductance. However, while m(b) appeared to be the strongest determinant of energy metabolism, there was an important and significant contribution of L(b) (but not L(f)) to thermal conductance. This study demonstrates how additional information can be drawn from physiological ecology and general organismal studies by applying Structural Equation Modeling when multiple variables are measured in the same individuals.

Acclimatization↗
PubMed1994

The need to scale for differences in body size and mass: an explanation of Kleiber's 0.75 mass exponent.

When modeling intraspecific relationships between selected measurements (Y) for differences in body mass (m) using the allometric equation Y = amb (where a is a constant and b is the exponent parameter), various studies have reported exponents greater than the anticipated 2/3, often closer to the exponent 0.75 identified by Kleiber. A possible explanation for these exponents is proposed based on the findings of Alexander et al. (J. Zool. Lond. 194: 539-552, 1981), who observed that, within a variety of species, larger mammals have a greater proportion of proximal leg muscle mass in relation to their body mass, m1.1. If subjects that are used to record Y exhibit a similar disproportionate increase in muscle mass with body size, then the allometric equation is likely to identify both a contribution proportional to the subject's body mass and a contribution from the disproportionate increase in muscle mass within the group. These confounding influences in Y can be identified separately by incorporating a body size parameter as well as a mass component in the allometric equation. The factor "body size" can be introduced either by partitioning the sample into discrete subgroups according to body size or, in studies involving human subjects, by introducing height as a continuous covariate. In both studies reported involving human maximal exercise, these methods were able to identify a systematic increase in Y with body size, leaving the subject's body mass component, found to be proportional to m2/3, independent of body size.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

How dispersal limitation shapes species-body size distributions in local communities.

A critical but poorly understood pattern in macroecology is the often unimodal species-body size distribution (also known as body size-diversity relationship) in a local community (embedded in a much larger regional species pool). Purely neutral community models that assume functional equivalence among species are incapable of explaining this pattern because body size is the key determinant of functional differences between species. Several niche-based explanations have been offered, but none of them is completely satisfactory. Here we develop a simple model that unites a neutral community model with niche-based theory to explain the relationship. In the model, species of similar size are assumed to belong to the same size guild. Within a size guild, all individuals are equivalent in their competition for resources, sensu Hubbell's neutral community model; they have the same speciation rate and dispersal capacities. Between size guilds, however, the total number of individuals, the speciation rate, and the dispersal capacities differ, but using known allometric scaling laws for these properties, we can describe the differences between size guilds. Our model predicts that species richness reaches an optimum at an intermediate body size, in agreement with observations. The optimum at intermediate body size is basically the result of a trade-off between, on the one hand, allometric scaling laws for the number of individuals and the speciation rate that decrease with body size and, on the other hand, the scaling law for active dispersal that increases with body size.

Biodiversity↗
PubMed2003

Body size estimation: testing a new mirror-based assessment method.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the current study was to compare a new ecologically valid method of body size estimation with an existing, commonly used method. METHOD: The new method uses a "mirror-sized" image and measures perception rather than memory of body size. Fifty-five healthy women participated in the study. RESULTS: Body size estimations with the new method were significantly larger than with the existing method (p <.001). This difference was specific to body size and was not seen for estimation of neutral images. DISCUSSION: The results of the study show that different body size estimations are made with the new more ecologically valid method compared with the existing method. This finding has important implications for research into the factors influencing the perception of body size.

Adult↗
PubMed1994

Animal body size distributions change as more species are described.

Frequency distributions of body size have been reported in the literature for a range of animal higher taxa. However, the reported shapes of these distributions may be biased by species missing from them, specifically by currently undiscovered species. There is a body of evidence that the small-bodied species in a taxon are described later, on average, than the large-bodied. From this, we predict that the means of animal body size frequency distributions should decrease through time, and the skewnesses of the distributions increase. These predictions are shown to be true for body size distributions for five different higher taxa of animals. Thus, any reported body size distribution for a taxon is likely to be systematically biased, even if it includes all the species which are known, if many species are likely to remain undiscovered.

Animals↗
PubMed2004

Measurement of dialyzer clearance, dialysis time, and body size: death risk relationships among patients.

BACKGROUND: Urea pharmacokinetic equation systems have contributed to better understanding of treatment dose among hemodialysis patients. The methods are indirect, however, and require the measurement of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) concentration before and after a dialysis session to estimate the total treatment dose that clinicians prescribe [urea clearance x dialysis time (Kt)] indexed to an estimate of body size [the volume of urea distribution in the body (V)] yielding the ratio, Kt/V. New technology permits direct on-line measurement of average small molecule clearance (Kecn) during each dialysis treatment that can be multiplied by time (t) to give a direct measurement of total treatment dose (Kt). This study evaluated the relationship of measured Kt with death risk. It also evaluated the relationship of simple body size measures to risk and also the combination of one such measure [body surface area (BSA)] with Kt to death risk. METHODS: The data were taken from the Fresenius Medical Care (NA) (FMCNA) clinical database that included patients who had outcome data, height and weight measurements, and at least one average Kecn and t measurement during April 2002. Kecn, t, and the body size measures [body weight, body mass index (BMI), and BSA)] were averaged during the month. Those values were used as predictors of survival during the next 1 year in unadjusted and case mix adjusted proportional hazards (Cox) models. RESULTS: Increasing values of Kecn, t, Kt and all of the body size measures were associated with lower death risk. The body size measure most closely associated with risk was the BSA that was used in subsequent models. Kt and BSA were independent risk predictors. There was a significant interaction between Kt and BSA in the case mix but not the unadjusted model indicating that the risk burden of lower total dialysis dose, Kt, may be greater among small than large patients. CONCLUSION: The direct measurement of dialysis dose during each treatment is practical and the values reported by it are clinically relevant. Higher dose was associated with better survival in both small and large patients treated three times weekly. Furthermore, smaller patients may require proportionately greater total dose than larger patients to achieve comparable survival.

Aged↗
PubMed1989

Body size and menopausal status in relation to the pattern of spread in recurrent breast cancer.

The prognosis and pattern of spread were related to body size and menopausal status in 863 patients with recurrent breast cancer. These patients were all enrolled in the adjuvant protocols of the Danish Breast Cancer Cooperative Group. The pattern of spread was illustrated by the number of metastases, the anatomical location of recurrence, and the rate of progression. Body size was estimated as height, weight, Quetelet index (QI), and body surface area (BSA). The body size was unassociated with both recurrence-free interval (RFI) and survival after recurrence (SAR). The groups of patients with different body size had both the same number and the same location of metastases. The tumour growth rates were estimated as clinical rates of progression (i.e. the time elapsed from a single distant metastasis until dissemination). The progression rate was unaffected by body size. Postmenopausal patients had a significantly shorter RFI and SAR compared to premenopausal patients. The number of metastatic sites, the anatomical location of metastases, and the rate of progression were similar in pre- and postmenopausal patients. The study could not confirm most findings from the literature which report a poor prognosis for patients with large body size. Moreover, the results do not suggest interactions between body size, menopausal status, and the clinical course of recurrent breast cancer.

Anthropometry↗