Keywords: Body composition, lung health, metabolic health, muscle and fat mass
 

"Respiratory and metabolic health: The impact of body composition"

This thesis provides the first reference values and charts for different body compartments assessed by Dual Energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) based on a Caucasian European cohort aged 6 to 81 years. For individuals with DXA measurements, it provides a tool which enables them to compare their results to the general population. It further shows that we need to consider fat and muscle mass when investigating and evaluating metabolic and respiratory health. The data show that children with high fat and muscle mass have the most adverse blood lipid profile. It will be important to observe their future cardiometabolic outcomes to estimate their risk for cardiovascular diseases. The current thesis further found that individuals with higher muscle mass have a better lung function and that gain in muscle mass is associated with a higher lung function increase in childhood. On the contrary, individuals with higher fat mass had lower lung function, and this effect was stronger in adulthood.

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