Greater Abdominal Fat Accumulation Is Associated with Higher Metabolic Risk in Chinese than in White People: An Ethnicity Study
Open Access
- 14 March 2013
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 8 (3), e58688
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0058688
Abstract
Chinese are reported to have a higher percent body fat (%BF) and a higher percent trunk fat (%TF) than whites for a given body mass index (BMI). However, the associations of these ethnic differences in body composition with metabolic risks remain unknown. A total of 1 029 Chinese from Hangzhou, China, and 207 whites from New York, NY, USA, were recruited in the present study. Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Analysis of covariance was used to assess the ethnic differences in fat, fat distribution, and metabolic risk factors. After adjusting for BMI, age, and height, Chinese men had an average of 3.9% more %BF and 12.1% more %TF than white men; Chinese women had an average of 2.3% more %BF and 11.8% more %TF than white women. Compared with whites, higher metabolic risks were detected in Chinese for a given BMI after adjusting for age and height. Further adjustment for %BF did not change these ethnic disparities. However, after adjusting for %TF, the ethnic differences decreased and become insignificant in triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure (except for systolic blood pressure in men). For fasting plasma glucose, the ethnic differences persisted after adjustment for %BF, but decreased significantly from 0.910 to 0.686 mmol/L among men, and from 0.629 to 0.355 mmol/L among women, when the analyses were further controlled for %TF. Chinese have both higher %BF and %TF than white people for a given BMI. However, only %TF could in part account for the higher metabolic risk observed in Chinese men and women.Keywords
This publication has 37 references indexed in Scilit:
- Ethnic Differences in Body Composition and Obesity Related Risk Factors: Study in Chinese and White Males Living in ChinaPLOS ONE, 2011
- What is the optimal body mass index for Chinese people?CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2011
- Body mass index and all-cause mortality in a large Chinese cohortCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal, 2011
- The Genetics of ObesityCurrent Diabetes Reports, 2010
- Prevalence of Diabetes among Men and Women in ChinaNew England Journal of Medicine, 2010
- Body mass index as a phenotypic expression of adiposity: quantitative contribution of muscularity in a population-based sampleInternational Journal of Obesity, 2009
- Overweight and obesity in ChinaBMJ, 2006
- ObesityThe Lancet, 2005
- Low body mass index but high percent body fat in Taiwanese subjects: implications of obesity cutoffsInternational Journal of Obesity, 2003
- The impact of body build on the relationship between body mass index and percent body fatInternational Journal of Obesity, 1999