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Getting on Track: Assessing Body Composition

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Given the increasing availability of body composition devices marketed directly to consumers without the context of measurement error and variations within populations, clinicians and researchers play an important role as experts because they aid clients in interpreting body composition results. In this webinar based upon the book, ACSM’s Body Composition Assessment, attendees will learn the methodology and sources of error inherent in several measurement techniques, as well as protocols for the standardization of each method, and advantages and limitations for each method.

In this webinar, the viewer will understand:

• The most common body composition methods and their respective rates of error.
• Ways to improve measurements using the skinfold thickness method and the bioelectrical impedance analysis method.
• The other methods of body composition assessment and their pros and cons of use.
• The impact of error and reliability on the ability to measure changes over time.

Timothy G. Lohman, PhD, is a professor emeritus at the University of Arizona and is widely considered a leading scientist in the field of body composition assessment. His research includes serving as principal investigator (PI) of both the TAAG (Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls) study—a collaborative multicenter study focused on physical activity of adolescent girls—and the Bone Estrogen Strength Training (BEST) study. He was co-PI of the Pathways Study, a collaborative study (by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; four field centers; and a coordinating center) designed to prevent obesity in Native American children. Lohman served as a consultant to the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) Vanguard Center and Health ABC study of long-term aging, and he was an advisor on youth fitness for the Cooper Institute. He previously served as the director of the Center for Physical Activity and Nutrition at the University of Arizona. He is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Lohman’s additional works, published by Human Kinetics, include his co-edited Human Body Composition, Second Edition; his authored monograph, “Advances in Body Composition Assessment”; and his co-edited Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual. His research in body composition helped to establish the chemical immaturity of children using the multicomponent model.

Laurie A. Milliken, PhD, FACSM, is an associate professor and former chair of the exercise and health sciences department at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. In the New England chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM), she has served as a state representative, an executive committee member, the Continuing Education Committee chair, and president, and she has been an active member since 1998. Nationally, she has served on the ACSM Research Awards Committee and is also an editorial board member of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal. She is currently a peer reviewer for leading scientific journals such as Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, the Journal of Applied Physiology, and the European Journal of Applied Physiology. She has been a member of ACSM since 1994 and has presented her research at many annual meetings. Her research interests include the regulation of body composition in response to exercise throughout the lifespan. She has received NIH funding for her work and is also a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine.