Effects of Body Hair on College-Age Males on Body Composition Measurements by BOD POD

摘要

Body composition measurements by BOD POD account for the effects of trapped isothermal air in hair on the scalp by having the subject wear a swim cap to compress the hair on the head. However, there are no recommendations that account for the effects of trapped isothermal air in hair elsewhere on the body. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effect of body hair on body composition measurements by BOD POD. To assess the impact of body hair on body composition measurements, BOD POD measurements were performed in two conditions: wearing single layer compression shorts (CS) apparel with a swim cap (recommended by manufacturer) and wearing single layer limb length compression (LC) apparel with the same swim cap. The order of apparel was conducted in random order to avoid any potential order effect. Fifty male college-age males (age 19.96 1.32 years) volunteered to participate in this study. Body density and percent body fat were calculated from BOD POD measurements of body mass and body volume. Wearing single layer limb length compression apparel to compress body hair increased body mass by an average of 0.67 lb. (0.05). Compared to wearing only compression shorts, covering exposed body hair resulted in a reduction in body volume measures; thus, body density was calculated as higher in the LC apparel condition. The mean percentage of body fat in the LC condition (13.99 6.64%) was significantly lower than the mean percentage of body fat in the CS condition (16.76 6.27%, p 0.001). The results of this investigation demonstrate that covering exposed body hair by wearing single layer limb-length compression apparel can result in significantly different measurements of percent body fat in college-age males. These findings indicate that air displacement plethysmography for males while wearing limb-length compression apparel resulted in a lower assessment of body fat by an average of 2.77 percent. Based on the findings of this investigation, body hair needs to be accounted for when percent body fat is being assessed by BOD POD.