. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2009 Sep 10.

Published in final edited form as: Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Sep;11(5):566–572. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e32830b5f23

Table 1. Representative multicomponent models at the five-body composition levels.

Level	Body composition model	Number of components
Atomic	BM = H + O + N + C + Na + K + Cl + P + Ca + Mg + S	11
Molecular	BM = FM + TBW + TBPro + Mo + Ms + CHO	6
	BM = FM + TBW + TBPro + M	4
	BM = FM + TBW + nonfat solids	3
	BM = FM + Mo + residual	3
	BM = FM + FFM	2
Cellular	BM = cells + ECF + ECS	3
Cellular	BM = FM + BCM + ECF + ECS	4
Tissue-organ	BW = AT + SM + bone + visceral organs + other tissues	5
Whole body	BW = head + trunk + appendages	3

AT, adipose tissue; BCM, body cell mass; BM, body mass; CHO, carbohydrates; ECF, extracellular fluid; ECS, extracellular solids; FFM, fat-free mass; FM, fat mass; M, mineral; Mo, bone mineral; Ms, soft-tissue mineral; SM, skeletal muscle; TBPro, total body protein; TBW, total body water. Reproduced with permission [2].