This multicenter international study aimed to develop anthropometric models to predict body composition in 3–24-month-old infants from diverse socioeconomic settings and ethnic groups. Using data from 1896 infants (training data), 941 infants (validation data), and 349 measurements from 250 infants (test data) across Brazil, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Australia, and India, sex-specific equations for fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) were developed using length, weight-for-length, triceps and subscapular skinfolds, and South Asian ethnicity. Results showed that anthropometry-based FFM prediction equations provided acceptable results, with better accuracy when applied to similar populations. Equations developed on similar populations are more applicable than those developed from different populations.

Vithanage Pujitha Wickramasinghe, Shabina Ariff, Shane A. Norris, Ina S. Santos, Rebecca Kuriyan, Lukhanyo H. Nyati, Jithin Sam Varghese, Alexia J. Murphy-Alford, Nishani Lucas, Caroline Costa, Kiran D. K. Ahuja, S. Jayasinghe, Anura V. Kurpad, Andrew P. Hills