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Nutrition & Dietetics vocabulary · Energy Balance and Body Weight

Body composition

Meaning in nutrition & dietetics, with examples

nounCommon term

In nutrition & dietetics, body composition means: The proportions of fat, muscle, bone and water that make up a person's body. It gives more information about health than body weight alone.

In Turkish: vücut bileşimi, vücut kompozisyonu

How it is used

Used in sports nutrition, obesity care and research. It is measured with methods such as bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), skinfold thickness and DEXA scans. Common phrases are 'body composition analysis' and 'changes in body composition'.

Example sentences

  1. His weight hasn't changed, but his body composition analysis shows more muscle and less fat.

  2. Hydration status can affect body composition results from bioelectrical impedance.

Common collocations

  • body composition analysis
  • measure body composition
  • changes in body composition
  • fat mass
  • lean body massThe weight of everything in the body except stored fat, including muscle, bone, organs and water. It is closely linked to strength and energy needs.
  • BMIBody mass index: a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters. It is used to classify adult weight as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obesity.
  • anthropometric measurementsMeasurements of the size and proportions of the body, such as height, weight, waist circumference, skinfold thickness and mid-upper arm circumference, used to assess nutrition and growth.
  • waist circumferenceA measurement around the waist, usually taken midway between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone, used to estimate fat stored around the abdomen.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Energy Balance and Body Weight

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.