Fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in obese adolescent girls: importance of the intraabdominal fat depot

Abstract

The regional distribution of body fat has repeatedly been found to be a significant and independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease in both obese men and women. To determine whether abnormalities in the lipid-lipoprotein profile and systolic and diastolic blood pressure are related to specific fat depots early in the course of obesity, we used magnetic resonance imaging to measure accurately intraabdominal and subcutaneous fat masses in 14 obese [body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2) 30 +/- 1.3] and 10 nonobese (BMI: 21 +/- 0.5) adolescent girls matched for age and Tanner stage of development. Intraabdominal and subcutaneous fat depots were two- to threefold greater in obese than in nonobese girls (P < 0.01). Total cholesterol, triacylglycerol, low-density-lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, basal insulin, and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were significantly higher in obese adolescent girls than in control subjects. In obese girls, intraabdominal fat but not BMI or waist-to-hip ratio was highly correlated with basal insulin (r = 0.55, P < 0.04), triacylglycerols (r = 0.53, P < 0.03), and high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (r = -0.54, P < 0.04). Femoral adipose tissue was inversely related to triacylglycerol (r = -0.51) and LDL cholesterol (r = -0.56, P < 0.05) concentrations in obese girls. The study indicates that early in the natural history of obese adolescent girls, cardiovascular risk factors are related to the amount of intraabdominal fat.

Body fat measurements in children as predictors for the metabolic syndrome: focus on waist circumference

“…04) related to both total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol, and triacylglycerol levels (Brambilla et al 1994). A separate study in obese adolescent girls has shown that cardiovascular risk factors including plasma triacylglycerol and HDL-cholesterol concentrations and systolic and diastolic blood pressure are directly related to the amount of intra-abdominal fat (Caprio et al 1996). Similar findings have also been reported for obese children aged 7-11 years (Owens et al 1998).…”

Trends in waist circumferences in young British children: a comparative study

“…Indeed (as in adults), central adiposity in children has been related to risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type II diabetes mellitus, including increased blood pressure, an adverse blood lipid profile and raised fasting insulin levels. [11][12][13][14][15][16] Increases in waist circumference will reflect both increases in visceral adiposity and increases in centrally located subcutaneous fat, both of which are associated with a number of adverse metabolic outcomes. This is of concern, as it has recently been shown in British youth aged 11-16 y that central adiposity, as measured by the waist circumference, has increased at a far greater rate than overall fatness (indicated by the BMI) over the past 10-20 y.…”

Waist circumference values in Spanish children—Gender related differences

“…In children, it has been also shown a signi®cant relation between adipose tissue distribution and some metabolic complications of obesity (Legido et al, 1989;Caprio S et al, 1996;Gower et al, 1998;van Lenthe et al, 1998).…”