Manipulating pretesting conditions for measuring body composition using the BodPod and bioelectrial impedance

Abstract

Body composition is defined as the proportion of fat mass to total body mass, represented as percent body fat. It is very important in health and physical fitness related settings to obtain accurate body composition measurements in order to accurately assess the health level of individuals. In this study a group of 20-23 year old females voluntarily participated in a study conducted in the Integrative Exercise Physiology Lab. In this study the Bod Pod and bioelectric impedance methods of body composition measurement were used on these subjects while 3 different pretesting conditions were manipulated. These conditions included food and drink consumption and exercise prior to the tests. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent these pretesting conditions would affect the results and accuracy of both the BodPod and the bioelectric impedance.