Overview

Assessments of body composition provide a useful tool to determine the impact of nutrition strategies and training interventions. However, in particular athletes, such activities have the potential to cause harm. Protocols should be established and implemented before, during and after assessments of body composition to reduce this risk. These guidelines seek to safeguard the athlete and apply to each individual athlete, their coach(s) and their local support network. This includes athletes and members of the support or external teams, involved in AA approved research; or as part of domestic or international team training camps and competitions.

Methods and Protocols of Body Composition Assessment

For the purposes of these considerations, the term “body composition assessment” will be used to describe a range of methods including, but not limited to:

Body mass weighing (via scales)
Surface anthropometry (including skinfolds)
Dual X-ray densitometry (DXA)

Best practice protocols to optimise the reliability and precision of these techniques can be found elsewhere; the current considerations represent complimentary information that considers the impact of the protocol on the athlete.

Principles of Body Composition Assessment

The underpinning philosophy of body composition assessment is ‘first do no harm’, including the use of appropriate and professional language, with the aim to ensure positive outcomes for the athlete

Any body composition goals identified by each individual Athlete and Coach pair, should be discussed with relevant members of the identified support team, including consideration of the potential performance benefits and or risks of body composition assessment and intervention(s).
Each athlete should be empowered to have ownership over body composition assessment, by being provided with choice and decision making capacity and personal control of how their body is being assessed.
Any body composition assessment should be justified and have a supporting rationale: unjustified routine periodic screening should be avoided.
Feedback and the interpretation of body composition assessment should be communicated professionally, between a qualified member of the support team, athlete and coach (with athlete consent).
Body composition assessment in group settings anywhere, should be avoided.
Considerations are made to ensure all athletes and their bodies are treated with due respect.

Individual Athlete Consent

Athlete consent can be provided in either a verbal or written form. Valid consent should involve several components:

Consent should be voluntarily given; there should be no actual or perceived ramifications for self-exclusion from body composition assessment.
Consent should be informed; practitioners breach their duty of care if they fail to warn the athlete of the risks associated with treatments or procedures, they are going to perform.
Consent should be obtained from those with legal capacity to do so; adults (18 years and over).
Children and athletes with intellectual disability require parental or legal guardian consent [NSO coaches within the SIS-SAS daily training environment are seen as holding legal guardianship]. While common law recognises that the rights of a child to consent increases as their ability to understand and comprehend increases, caution must always be exercised.
Where parental consent is provided, minors need to be informed in a manner they can understand.
In the case of verbal consent, the athlete’s permission should be noted at the time in the relevant record or clinical notes as well as consent to share body composition assessment data with team members as relevant.
In the case of personnel changes in the athlete’s coaching or support team, consent should be re-confirmed.
Consent to collect and share body composition assessment information with others (coaches and relevant members of the support team) is to be given by the athlete.

Facotrs That May Preclude Body Composition Assessment

Past or current history of disordered eating (DE) or an eating disorder (ED).
The appropriateness of testing an individual athlete should be discussed with the athlete and relevant members of the disordered eating core multidisciplinary team (CMT) including sports dietitian, psychologist and doctor. If DXA (whole – body) assessment has been conducted, the potential risk/benefits of providing any visual body composition results with the athlete i.e. DXA reports, needs to be carefully considered by the CMT and discussed with the athlete.

Body Image concerns
An evaluation should be made of the risk that the assessment may exacerbate body image concerns, with consideration of processes and support that are in place to safeguard the athlete.

Para Athletes
According to the type of impairment, some modification of the assessment protocol and interpretation of results may be needed. If these cannot be accommodated then the assessment should not proceed. For an athlete with an intellectual disability, considerations around the level of understanding of the entire process needs to be considered.

Athlete Support Systems
Consideration should be given to the medical, psychological and/or nutrition support systems available to the athlete in the daily training environment. If a change in body composition is suggested as a result of the assessment, adequate expertise and support for the athlete should be provided. Where there is no access to relevant support and expertise, body composition assessment should be avoided.

Athlete Age and Level of Competition
Variation in testing methods and frequency of testing is required according to the athlete’s age and level of competition. Full consideration of both these factors are required.

If appropriate safeguards concerning the above factors cannot be put in place, the rationale to proceed with body composition assessment should be reconsidered.

Your Responsibility

It is a requirement of your coaching accreditation that you follow the body composition assessment guidelines. Please ensure that you and your support team are fully familiar with the policies and follow them at all times.

Please contact coachaccreditation@athletics.org.au if you have any questions or concerns on this matter.

Body Composition Assessment Guidelines