Is the 1975 Reference Man still a suitable reference?

Manfred J. Müller (1) , Wiebke Later (1) , A Bosy-Westphal (1) , Elke Kossel (1) , Claus-C. Glüer (1) , Martin Heller (1)

1 Institut für Humanernährung und Lebensmittelkunde

Background: In 1975 a Reference Man for the estimation of radiation doses without adverse health effects was created. However, during the past decades considerable changes in body weight and body composition were observed and new in vivo technologies of body composition analysis are available. Thus, the Reference Man might be outdated as adequate standard to assess medication and radiation doses. Objective: To compare body composition of an adult population with 1975 Reference Man data questioning its value as a suitable reference. Methods: Body composition was assessed in 208 healthy, Caucasian subjects (105 males, 103 females) aged 18-78 years with a BMI range of 16.8-35.0 kg/m2. Fat mass (FM) and muscle mass (MM) were assessed by Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA), organ masses (OM) were measured by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Results: There was a considerable variance in body weight and body composition. When compared with Reference Man, great differences in body composition were found. Men and women of the study population were heavier, taller and had more FM, MM and higher masses of brain, heart and spleen. These differences did not depend on age. Relationships between body weight and body composition were investigated by general linear regression models whereby deviations in FM, MM and heart mass disappeared, while differences in brain and spleen mass persisted. Conclusions: Our data indicate the need of a modern Reference Man and thus a re-calculation of medical radiation doses and medication.

Mots clés: reference man; body composition; organ mass; magnetic resonance imaging

Manfred J. Müller, Wiebke Later, A Bosy-Westphal, Elke Kossel, Claus-C. Glüer, et al.. Is the 1975 Reference Man still a suitable reference?. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2010, ⟨10.1038/ejcn.2010.125⟩. ⟨hal-00560304⟩