RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Upper arm anthropometry has been used in the nutritional assessment of small infants, but it has not yet been validated as a predictor of regional body composition in this population. OBJECTIVE: Validation of measured and derived upper arm anthropometry as a predictor of arm fat and fat-free compartments in preterm infants. METHODS: Upper arm anthropometry, including the upper arm cross-sectional areas, was compared individually or in combination with other anthropometric measurements, with the cross-sectional arm areas measured by magnetic resonance imaging, in a cohort of consecutive preterm appropriate-for-gestational-age neonates, just before discharge. RESULTS: Thirty infants born with (mean +/- SD) a gestational age of 30.7 +/- 1.9 weeks and birth weight of 1,380 +/- 325 g, were assessed at 35.4 +/- 1.1 weeks of corrected gestational age, weighing 1,785 +/- 93 g. None of the anthropometric measurements are reliable predictors (r(2) < 0.56) of the measurements obtained by magnetic resonance imaging, individually or in combination with other anthropometric measurements. CONCLUSION: Both measured anthropometry and derived upper arm anthropometry are inaccurate predictors of regional body composition in preterm appropriate-for-gestational-age infants.