Question 1: Do lycra garments improve function and movement in children with cerebral palsy?

摘要

The present evidence suggests that the impact of the BMI is variable and limited. Although there is an association between BMI and percentage fat mass in overweight subjects, BMI cannot be considered as a good proxy of fat mass.2 In adults with a BMI of 30kg/m2, adiposity can range between 23 and 41% in males, and 30 and 51% in females, respectively.2 By contrast, there is no association between BMI and total body protein content in patients with anorexia nervosa questioning its value characterizing underweight.3 Regarding population studies on the genetic basis of body weight, genes explained up to 10% of the variance in BMI only.2'4 In addition, BMI contributed to less than 35% of variance in insulin resistance in normal and overweight subjects.5 All these data point out to possible shortcomings of the BMI, which cannot reflect either sarcopenia (that is, the loss of muscle mass) at underweight or adequately characterize adiposity, because of its inability to discriminate between (i) an excess in body fat and increased lean mass and (ii) different types of body fat distribution. Altogether, BMI is a weak mean to characterize the nutritional and the clinical phenotype. Thus, the clinical practice to use BMI should not be transferred into research.