Human Body Composition

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-ix

   PDF

2. Historical Introduction

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 1-4

3. Techniques for Estimating Body Composition

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 5-100

4. Body Composition of the Fetus

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 101-124

5. Body Composition in Infancy, Childhood, and Adolescence

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 125-168

6. The Adult

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 169-195

7. Pregnancy

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 196-208

8. Influence of Nutrition

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 209-247

9. Influence of Physical Activity

   • Gilbert B. Forbes

   Pages 248-266

10. Influence of Hormones

    • Gilbert B. Forbes

    Pages 267-281

11. Influence of Trauma and Disease

    • Gilbert B. Forbes

    Pages 282-293

12. Concluding Remarks

    • Gilbert B. Forbes

    Pages 294-300

13. Back Matter

    Pages 301-350

    PDF

Man has always been curious about himself, a curiosity that began centuries ago with an examination of the soul, and that extended in the period of the Renaissance to his anatomy and certain functions such as the circulation of the blood. Chemical science entered the scene in the 18th century, and burst into prominence in the 19th century. As the various chemical elements were discovered, many were found to be present in body fluids and tissues. Organic compounds were recognized; it became known that body heat was produced by the combustion of food; chemical transformations such as the production of fat from carbohydrate were recognized; and in the 1850s it was determined that young animals differed from adults in certain aspects of body composition. As methods for chemical analysis evolved, they were applied to samples of body fluids and tissues, and it became apparent that life depended on chemical normality; and most importantly it was realized that given the necessary amount of food and water the body had the ability to maintain a degree of constancy of what Claude Bernard called the milieu interieur, in other words its interior chemical en­ vironment.

• biology
• body composition
• childhood
• fetus
• growth
• health
• hormone
• instrumentation
• medicine
• methodology
• nutrition
• pediatrics
• pharmacology
• sports medicine
• trauma

• The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, USA

  Gilbert B. Forbes

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