Obesity and Central Adiposity in Japanese Immigrants: Role of the Western Dietary Pattern.

Abstract

We examined the association of nutritional factors with body fat deposition in a representative sample (n=530, aged 40-79 years) of first and second-generation Japanese-Brazilian population who was submitted to standardized questionnaires, including nutritional data, clinical examination and laboratory procedures. Dietary data were compared between groups of subjects defined by the presence of obesity or central adiposity. Associations of body mass index or waist circumference (dependent variables) with energy and nutrient intakes (main exposure of interest) were analyzed by multiple linear regression, with adjustment for gender, age, physical activity and generation. Groups of obese subjects and those with central adiposity consumed higher proportions of energy as fat and lower as carbohydrate than those without obesity and central adiposity (p<0.05). Stratifying by generation, second-generation was shown to take more energy as fat than the first-generation (p<0.05). In the regression models, protein intake was the only variable significantly associated with body mass index. Replacing body mass index by the waist circumference, male sex and protein intake were shown to be independent predictors of central adiposity. When second-generation was taken, total energy intake and all macronutrient intakes became significantly associated with body mass index (p<0.05) but only protein intake predicted waist circumference. We speculate that Japanese-Brazilians, genetically prone to insulin resistance, when exposed to unfavorable environment will express a number of metabolic disturbances. A deleterious dietary pattern may contribute to weight gain, was associated with abdominal fat deposition in particular a protein-rich diet, and reflected by their waist circumference. Intra-abdominal fat could be triggering insulin resistance, which would explain the increased prevalence rates of diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension seen in Japanese-Brazilians.

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“…The data on immigrants suggests that this interaction affects the development of type 2 diabetes 64 . Rapid changes in diet and lifestyle can influence the heritability of different phenotypes, which are dependent on the nutritional environment for their expression 10 .…”

Major dietary patterns, ethnicity, and prevalence of type 2 diabetes in rural Hawaii

“…Therefore, how people retain or modify their own dietary patterns as they assimilate into a different culture may have either positive or negative consequences on the nutritional quality of their diets and chronic disease risk. It is clear that T2DM is due to genetic, environmental, and behavioral determinants, and recent studies of ethnic groups have contributed to this understanding (10)(11)(12). Indeed, different ethnic groups show prominent differences in their genetic predisposition towards T2DM and glucose intolerance (13,14).…”

Leptin is not associated independently with hypertension in Japanese-Brazilian women

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