Impact of physiological and lifestyle factors on body composition_V1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Impact of physiological and lifestyle factors on body composition (BODYCON).
IRAS ID
149649
Contact name
Julie A Lovegrove
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Reading University
Research summary
Research has shown that body composition is a key component of health and future disease risk. Being overweight and obese is associated with a higher body fat composition, and a greater risk of developing type II diabetes and heart disease. The location where fat is stored in the body is becoming increasingly recognised an important predictor of risk, with extra fat around the abdomen and waist (referred to as the android pattern of fat distribution or ‘apple’ shape) thought to increase your disease risk than storing fat around the thighs and buttocks (gynoid pattern of fat distribution or ‘pear’ shape). As a result, there is significant interest in techniques to accurately monitor and detect changes in body composition, and also physiological and lifestyle factors which influence body fat, lean tissue mass and bone mineral density. This cross sectional human study will look at how physiological, behavioural and genetic factors relate to total body composition in 1,196 healthy men and women aged between 18 and 70 years. Interested applicants will be invited to attend for a single visit at the Hugh Sinclair Unit of Human Nutrition at the University of Reading. This visit lasts around two hours and includes non-invasive measures of body composition (bio-electrical impedance and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry), arterial stiffness and fasting measures of metabolic health. Diet and physical activity will then be monitored over a four day period using diet and activity diaries, and an activity monitor. The findings from this study will contribute to the evidence base on how subject characteristics influence body composition and inform on the design of future human studies on body composition methodology. Due to the large sample size, this study will be conducted over a five year period.
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/1095
Date of REC Opinion
29 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion