The elementary nutritional needs of vegetarians are totally, or in great part, supplied by vegetarian food; thus the body composition of vegetarians could differ from that of omnivorous persons. The objective of the present study was to compare healthy Italian vegetarians to healthy omnivorous individuals in terms of body composition, determined using dual X-ray absorptiometry. The study population consisted of 20 vegetarians [mean age (+/-SD), 34.78+/-15.07 years; mean BMI, 22.41+/-2.15 kg/m(2)] and 10 omnivorous persons matched for age and BMI. We found no significant differences between the two groups in terms of fat mass, lean body mass, soft tissue, bone mineral content, or bone mineral density. These findings suggest that the vegetarian diet does not induce negative alterations in body composition.