{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,17]],"date-time":"2026-01-17T19:18:07Z","timestamp":1768677487791,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":48,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]],"date-time":"2017-02-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1487808000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sports"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Accurate assessment of body composition is an important issue among athletes. Different methodologies generate controversial results, leading to a deep uncertainty on individual exercise prescriptions. Thus, this study aims to identify the differences between field methods, such as bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and skinfold assessment, with a clinical method, highly accurate, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), among elite young football players. Thirty-eight male football players with a mean (sd) age of 16.7 (0.87) years, involved in the Portuguese national competition of U16 (n = 13) and U19 (n = 25), were evaluated and objective measures of body composition, muscle strength and football skills were collected by trained specialists. Body composition was assessed using BIA (Tanita BC-418, Tanita Corp., Tokyo, Japan), in agreement with all the evaluation premises. Additionally, all athletes were evaluated using the clinical method DXA (Hologic Inc., Waltham, MA, USA). Among the U19 athletes, three skinfold sites (SKF) were assessed: chest, abdomin and thigh. The Spearman correlation coefficients and the mean difference between methods were calculated. The agreement between both methods was analyzed using Bland-Altman plots. Among the evaluated athletes, lower mean values of body fat % were found using BIA as a method of body composition assessment compared with DXA (12.05 vs. 15.58 for U16; 11.97 vs. 14.16 for U19). Despite the moderate correlation between methods (r = 0.33) to estimate the percentage of total fat, the median of the difference (DXA vs. BIA) was relevant in clinical terms, with 2.90% and 1.47% for U16 and U19 athletes, respectively. Stronger correlations were found between the sum of the SKF and DXA fat estimation (r = 0.68). The Bland-Altman plots showed a clear underestimation in the evaluations using the BIA, namely among athletes with better body composition profiles (8%\u201312% of fat). Using BIA, an underestimation of body fat assessment was observed among 94.5% of the athletes with less than 12% body fat mass. Among the evaluated athletes, fat mass was underestimated at a median value of 2.21% using BIA in comparison with DXA. The sum of the SKF showed a stronger correlation with the reference method (DXA) (r = 0.68) than BIA.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/sports5010017","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]],"date-time":"2017-02-23T11:45:01Z","timestamp":1487850301000},"page":"17","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Body Composition Evaluation Issue among Young Elite Football Players: DXA Assessment"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"C\u00e9sar","family":"Le\u00e3o","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]},{"given":"M\u00e1rio","family":"Sim\u00f5es","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"},{"name":"Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico da MAIA-Grupo de Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o para o Desporto, Educa\u00e7\u00e3o e Sa\u00fade (GIDES), 4475-690 Maia, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5812-7029","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Bruno","family":"Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9813-2842","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filipe","family":"Clemente","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"},{"name":"Instituto de Telecomunica\u00e7\u00f5es, Delega\u00e7\u00e3o da Covilh\u00e3, 6201-001 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Bezerra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"},{"name":"Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health and Human Development (CIDESD), 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7786-8970","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miguel","family":"Cam\u00f5es","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Escola Superior de Desporto e Lazer, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico de Viana do Castelo, 4960-320 Viana do Castelo, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3358","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0b013e318216305d","article-title":"Anthropometric and Physiological Characteristics of Young Soccer Players according To Their Playing Position: Relevance for Competition Sucess","volume":"25","author":"Casais","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2097","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0000000000000881","article-title":"Anthropometric and Somatotype Characteristics of Young Soccer Players: Differences Among Categories, Subcategories, and Playing Position","volume":"29","author":"Perroni","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1799","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0b013e318237e8da","article-title":"Body composition and performance: Influence of sport and gender among adolescents","volume":"26","author":"Hogstrom","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1249\/mss.0b013e31815b4905","article-title":"Effects of an entire season on physical fitness in elite female handball players","volume":"40","author":"Granados","year":"2008","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sports Exerc."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Nikolaidis, P.T., Ruano, M.A.G., de Oliveira, N.C., Portes, L.A., Freiwald, J., Lepr\u00eatre, P.M., and Knechtle, B. (2016). Who runs the fastest? Anthropometric and physiological correlates of 20 m sprint performance in male soccer players. Res. Sports Med., 8627.","DOI":"10.1080\/15438627.2016.1222281"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"669","DOI":"10.1080\/02640410050120050","article-title":"Anthropometric and physiological predispositions for elite soccer","volume":"18","author":"Reilly","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci."},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"25","article-title":"Selection of young soccer players in terms of anthropometric and physiological factors","volume":"47","author":"Gil","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Sports Med. Phys. Fitness"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Milanese, C., Cavedon, V., Corradini, G., de Vita, F., and Zancanaro, C. (2015). Seasonal DXA-measured body composition changes in professional male soccer players. J. Sport. Sci. Med.","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2015.1022573"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1016\/j.csm.2006.11.004","article-title":"Body Composition in Athletes: Assessment and Estimated Fatness","volume":"26","author":"Malina","year":"2007","journal-title":"Clin. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2709","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0000000000000468","article-title":"Body composition and muscle strength predictors of jumping performance: Differences between elite female volleyball competitors and nontrained individuals","volume":"28","author":"Copic","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"896","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0b013e3182082ae7","article-title":"Influence of upper-body external loading on anaerobic exercise performance","volume":"25","author":"Inacio","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kyle, U.G., Piccoli, A., and Pichard, C. (2003). Body composition measurements: Interpretation finally made easy for clinical use. Curr. Opin. Clin. Nutr. Metab. Care, 387\u2013393.","DOI":"10.1097\/01.mco.0000078988.18774.3d"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jsams.2008.07.004","article-title":"Anthropometric and fitness characteristics of international, professional and amateur male graduate soccer players from an elite youth academy","volume":"13","author":"Carling","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Sci. Med. Sport"},{"key":"ref_14","unstructured":"Fink, H.H., and Mikesky, A.E. (2015). Practical Applications in Sports Nutrition, Jones & Bartlett Learning. [4th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"227","article-title":"Standard anthropometric, body composition, and strength variables as predictors of jumping performance in elite junior athletes","volume":"16","author":"Ugarkovic","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_16","first-page":"105","article-title":"Nutrition and athletic performance","volume":"28","author":"Thomas","year":"2016","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sports Exerc."},{"key":"ref_17","unstructured":"Driskell, J., and Wolinsky, I. (2011). Nutritional Assessment of Athletes, Taylor & Francis. [2nd ed.]."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"589","DOI":"10.1080\/02640414.2012.746721","article-title":"Effects of a Soccer Season on Anthropometric Characteristics and PhysicalFfitness in Elite Young Soccer Players","volume":"31","author":"Hammami","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Meyer, N.L., Sundgot-borgen, J., Lohman, T.G., Ackland, T.R., Stewart, A.D., Maughan, R.J., and Smith, S. (2013). Body composition for health and performance: A survey of body composition assessment practice carried out by the Ad Hoc Research Working Group on Body Composition, Health and Performance under the auspices of the IOC Medical Commission. Br. J. Sports Med., 1044\u20131053.","DOI":"10.1136\/bjsports-2013-092561"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.2165\/11597140-000000000-00000","article-title":"Current status of body composition assessment in sport","volume":"42","author":"Ackland","year":"2012","journal-title":"Sport. Med."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"Gropper, S.S., and Smith, J.L. (2013). Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism, CENGAGE Learning. [6th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1159\/000435840","article-title":"Effect of an Acute High Carbohydrate Diet on Body Composition Using DXA in Young Men","volume":"66","author":"Rouillier","year":"2015","journal-title":"Ann. Nutr. Metab."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"918","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0000000000000732","article-title":"Comparison of total and segmental body composition using DXA and multifrequency bioimpedance in collegiate female athletes","volume":"29","author":"Esco","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_24","first-page":"1","article-title":"Assessing Various Body Composition Measurements as an Appropriate Tool for Estimating Body Fat in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Female Collegiate Athletes","volume":"2","author":"Shim","year":"2014","journal-title":"Am. J. Sport. Sci. Med."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"World Medical Association (2013). World Health Organisation Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. J. Am. Med. Assoc., 310, 2191\u20132194.","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2013.281053"},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Teixeira, P., Sardinha, L.B., and Barata, T. (2008). Nutri\u00e7\u00e3o, Exerc\u00edcio e Sa\u00fade, LIDEL."},{"key":"ref_27","first-page":"620","article-title":"Segmental Musculoskeletal Examinations using Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA): Positioning and Analysis Considerations","volume":"14","author":"Hart","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Sports Sci. Med."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"Stewart, A., Marfell-Jones, M., and Inernational Society for Advancement of Kinanthopometry (2011). International Standards for Anthropometric Assessment, The International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"307","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(86)90837-8","article-title":"Statistical Methods for Assessing Agreement Between Two Methods of Clinical Measurement","volume":"327","author":"Bland","year":"1986","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1430","DOI":"10.1016\/j.clnu.2004.09.012","article-title":"Bioelectrical impedance analysis\u2014Part II: Utilization in clinical practice","volume":"23","author":"Kyle","year":"2004","journal-title":"Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tinsley, G.M., Morales, F.E., Forsse, J.S., and Grandjean, P.W. (2016). Impact of acute dietary manipulations on DXA and BIA body composition estimates. Med. Sci. Sport. Exerc.","DOI":"10.1249\/MSS.0000000000001148"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.18511\/0103-1716\/rbcm.v23n1p48-57","article-title":"Valida\u00e7\u00e3o da bioimped\u00e2ncia el\u00e9trica por multifrequ\u00eancia em atletas Validation of multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis in","volume":"23","author":"Mouad","year":"2015","journal-title":"Rev. Bras. Ci\u00eancia e Mov."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1479","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.ejcn.1601993","article-title":"New bioimpedance analysis system: Improved phenotyping with whole-body analysis","volume":"58","author":"Pietrobelli","year":"2004","journal-title":"Eur. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"700","DOI":"10.1038\/oby.2007.94","article-title":"Assessing body composition with DXA and bioimpedance: Effects of obesity, physical activity, and age","volume":"16","author":"Tylavsky","year":"2008","journal-title":"Obesity (Silver Spring)"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"236","DOI":"10.1519\/JSC.0b013e31824f2040","article-title":"Comparison of two bioelectrical impedance analysis devices with dual energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging in the estimation of body composition","volume":"27","author":"Wang","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"93","DOI":"10.2114\/jpa.23.93","article-title":"Percentage of Total Body Fat as Estimated by Three Automatic Bioelectrical Impedance Analyzers","volume":"23","author":"Demura","year":"2004","journal-title":"J. Physiol. Anthropol. Appl. Human Sci."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.1093\/ajcn\/81.1.74","article-title":"Comparison of multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis with dual energy x-ray absorptiometry for assessment of percentage body fat in a large, health population","volume":"81","author":"Sun","year":"2005","journal-title":"Am. J. Clin. Nutr."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nut.2008.07.004","article-title":"Validity of segmental multiple-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate body composition of adults across a range of body mass indexes","volume":"25","author":"Shafer","year":"2009","journal-title":"Nutrition"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1012","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1463-1326.2008.00851.x","article-title":"Body composition analysis by leg-to-leg bioelectrical impedance and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in non-obese and obese individuals","volume":"10","author":"Boyanov","year":"2008","journal-title":"Diabetes Obes. Metab."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"44","article-title":"The effects of training history, player position, and body composition on exercise performance in collegiate football players","volume":"16","author":"Miller","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Strength Cond. Res."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"245","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jchb.2016.03.003","article-title":"Fatness of female field hockey players: Comparison of estimates with different methods","volume":"67","author":"Konarski","year":"2016","journal-title":"HOMO J. Comp. Hum. Biol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2331","DOI":"10.1007\/s00421-013-2669-9","article-title":"Body composition changes by DXA, BIA and skinfolds during exercise training in women","volume":"113","year":"2013","journal-title":"Eur. J. Appl. Physiol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1249\/00005768-198401000-00016","article-title":"Validity of anthropometric equations for the estimation of body density in adolescent athletes","volume":"16","author":"Thorland","year":"1984","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sport. Exerc."},{"key":"ref_44","first-page":"124","article-title":"Validity of \u201cgeneralized\u201d equations for body composition analysis in male athletes","volume":"17","author":"Sinning","year":"1985","journal-title":"Med. Sci. Sport. Exerc."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"395","DOI":"10.1515\/jpem.2010.061","article-title":"Body fat measurements in elite adolescent volleyball players: Correlation between skinfold thickness, bioelectrical impedance analysis, air-displacement plethysmography, and body mass index percentiles","volume":"23","author":"Portal","year":"2010","journal-title":"J. Pediatr. Endocrinol. Metab."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"598","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2000-8489","article-title":"Assessment of body composition in ballett dancers: Correlation among anthropometric measurements, bio-electrical impedance analysis, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry","volume":"21","author":"Eliakim","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int. J. Sports Med."},{"key":"ref_47","first-page":"186","article-title":"Bioelectrical impedance measures in different position and vs dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)","volume":"42","author":"Andreoli","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Sports Med. Phys. Fit."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"49","DOI":"10.4067\/S0717-95022016000100008","article-title":"Methodological Agreement between Body-Composition Methods in Young Soccer Players Stratified by Zinc Plasma Levels","volume":"34","author":"Donangelo","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Morphol."}],"container-title":["Sports"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4663\/5\/1\/17\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T18:28:57Z","timestamp":1760207337000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4663\/5\/1\/17"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]]},"references-count":48,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,3]]}},"alternative-id":["sports5010017"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/sports5010017","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4663"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-4663","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2017,2,23]]}}}