Comprehensive Body Composition Assessment

In the physique athletes, body composition and anthropometrics (including total fat mass, lean mass and visceral fat mass) were assessed with several methods, including Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA, Lunar Prodigy Advance, GE Medical Systems – Lunar, Madison, WI, USA) and B-mode axial plane ultrasound (model SSD-α10, Aloka, Tokyo, Japan). These methods were used to estimate subcutaneous fat tissue thickness of the arm (triceps brachii) and leg (vastus lateralis)^{19 (link)}. For both physique athletes and FINRISK study cohorts, waist and hip circumference was measured using standard protocols: waist circumference was measured midway between the lower rib margin and iliac crest, and hip circumference was measured at the level of the widest circumference over the buttocks. For the FINRISK cohort, anthropometric measures of total fat mass and lean mass were taken using a bioimpedance machine (Tanita TBF-300MA, USA).