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Fat distribution may influence mortality rates in men, women
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The distribution of fat in the abdomen and thighs may indicate mortality risk in both men and women, according to research in the journal Obesity.
Fat distribution is associated with an increased mortality risk independent of overweight, and that risk varies by both sex and the location of fat deposits.
“The distribution of body fat is more important and strongly associated with health outcomes than total adiposity,” the researchers wrote. “Particularly, increased visceral or abdominal fat has been related to a greater risk of metabolic diseases independent of overall adiposity.”
The study is one of the first to examine the association between regional fat deposits and all-cause mortality, specifically in the abdomen and thigh, according to the researchers.
Annemarie Koster
Annemarie Koster, MD, of Maastricht University, the Netherlands, and colleagues at other institutions identified 2,187 men and 2,900 women, all white and aged 66 to 96 years, from the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES)-Reykjavik study cohort in Iceland. The AGES-Reykjavik study originally included a random sample of 30,795 men and women born between 1907 and 1936 and living in Reykjavik in 1967. The AGES study re-examined 5,764 survivors of the original cohort between 2002 and 2006, performing a comprehensive baseline examination. Abdominal visceral fat and subcutaneous fat and thigh intermuscular fat and subcutaneous fat were measured by CT, and visceral and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue were estimated from a single 10-mm thick transaxial section.
In women with obesity, visceral fat was associated with significantly increased all-cause mortality risk (HR = 1.16; 95% CI, 1.05-1.18) after adjustments for age, education, smoking status, physical activity, alcohol consumption and BMI. The association remained significant after additional adjustments for type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. Abdominal subcutaneous fat, however, was associated with a significantly lower mortality risk among women who are obese or of normal weight (HR = 0.7; 95% CI, 0.61-0.8).
In men, there was a significant association between intermuscular fat and mortality (HR = 1.17; 95% CI, 1.08-1.26), but not in women (HR = 1.01; 95% CI, 0.94-1.09). Abdominal fat amounts were not associated with mortality in men.
The results may not be applicable to younger age groups and other ethnicities, who were not included in the study, researchers wrote.
“As this is one of the first studies examining the association of fat depots of the abdomen and thigh, future studies are needed to confirm our findings,” Koster told Endocrine Today. “Further, our results also indicate a sex difference in regards to adipose distributions and mortality that needs to be looked at in future studies. Finally, (as) our study has been conducted in older adults, future research could also look at younger age groups.” – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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