Body Composition Assessment

DEXA scans provide regional breakdowns of body composition and can track changes over time with greater precision than scale or BMI. A DEXA scan is the gold standard for body composition analysis, differentiating fat mass, lean muscle mass, and bone mineral density. Waist-to-hip ratio is a stronger predictor of cardiometabolic risk than total body weight or BMI. Waist-to-hip ratio directly assesses visceral abdominal fat, which is metabolically active and stored around internal organs. MRI can be used for detailed body composition assessment, offering high-resolution imaging of fat distribution including visceral fat.