Interest of body composition assessment: from theory to clinical application

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Published: 2025-12-30
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Khadidja Bessaid
Laboratoire Endocrinologie Métabolisme Université Alger 1
Mouna Mezoued
Malha Azzouz
Djamila Meskine

Abstract

Assessment of body composition is a cornerstone of modern clinical practice in nutrition, endocrinology, and geriatrics. While body mass index (BMI) remains the most widely used tool for assessing body size, it fails to distinguish between fat mass and lean mass or to evaluate their regional distribution. Body composition analysis provides a more pathophysiological view of nutritional status by quantifying the main body compartments: fat mass, lean mass, total body water, and bone mineral content. Thanks to technological advances (bioelectrical impedance, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, magnetic resonance imaging, etc.), this approach has become an essential tool for detecting undernutrition, sarcopenia, or sarcopenic obesity, and for guiding personalized patient management.

Article Details

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Vol. 3 No. 2 (2025): Medical Focus Journal

Section

Focus
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite

Interest of body composition assessment: from theory to clinical application. (2025). Medical Focus Journal, 3(2). https://journals.univ-tlemcen.dz/MFJ/index.php/MFJ/article/view/152

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