Abstract
Population-based evidence for the role of habitual physical activity (PA) in the accumulation of visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAAT) abdominal adipose tissue is limited. We investigated if usual patterns and types of self-reported PA and inactivity were associated with VAT and SAAT in a general white population. Total volumes of VAT and SAAT were quantified by magnetic resonance imaging in 583 men and women (61 ± 11.9 y; BMI 27.2 ± 4.4 kg/m2). Past-year PA and inactivity were self-reported by questionnaire. Exploratory activity patterns (APAT) were derived by principal components analysis. Cross-sectional associations between individual activities, total PA in terms of metabolic equivalents (PA MET), or overall APAT and either VAT or SAAT were analyzed by multivariable-adjusted robust or generalized linear regression models. Whereas vigorous-intensity PA (VPA) was negatively associated with both VAT and SAAT, associations between total PA MET, moderate-intensity PA (MPA), or inactivity and VAT and/or SAAT depended on sex. There was also evidence of a threshold effect in some of these relationships. Total PA MET was more strongly associated with VAT in men (B = -3.3 ± 1.4; P = 0.02) than women (B = -2.1 ± 1.1; P = 0.07), but was more strongly associated with SAAT in women (B = -5.7 ± 2.5; P = 0.05) than men (B = -1.7 ± 1.6; P = 0.3). Men (-1.52 dm3 or -1.89 dm3) and women (-1.15 dm3 or -2.61 dm3) in the highest (>6.8 h/wk VPA) or second (4.0–6.8 h/wk VPA) tertile of an APAT rich in VPA, had lower VAT and SAAT, respectively, than those in the lowest (<4.0 h/wk VPA) tertile (P ≤ 0.016; P trend ≤ 0.0005). They also had lower VAT and SAAT than those with APAT rich in MPA and/or inactivity only. In conclusion, our results suggest that in white populations, habitual APAT rich in MPA might be insufficient to impact on accumulation of VAT or SAAT. APAT including ≥4.0–6.8 h/wk VPA, by contrast, are more strongly associated with lower VAT and SAAT.
Highlights
Accumulation of abdominal adipose tissue (AAT) has been considered a consequence of modern lifestyle patterns, including habitual physical activity (PA) and inactivity (IA) [1, 2]
Whereas VAT has been shown to contribute to systemic inflammation [1, 4] and has been suggested to be the key causal driver of the cardiovascular risk associated with the metabolic syndrome [1, 4], the impact of SAAT on chronic diseases is less well understood [3,4,5]
Whereas habitual vigorous-intensity PA (VPA) were negatively associated with VAT and SAAT in both white men and women, associations for habitual moderate-intensity PA (MPA) and IA were usually depended on sex and/or a specific threshold or range for a specific activity volume
Summary
Accumulation of abdominal adipose tissue (AAT) has been considered a consequence of modern lifestyle patterns, including habitual physical activity (PA) and inactivity (IA) [1, 2] Both excess visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAAT) AAT have recently been claimed to play a role in cardiometabolic disease etiology [1,2,3]. A number of epidemiological studies have observed associations between PA [6,7,8] and/or IA [9,10,11] and simple anthropometric measures, such as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio as surrogate measures for total AAT These measures correlate well with direct measurements of total AAT [12], but are unable to distinguish between VAT and SAAT [13, 14]. Studies that did use imaging techniques usually applied single- or few-slice MRI or CT scans [16,17,18], which, as opposed to volumetric multi-slice or whole-body scans, do not cover the whole abdomen and, provide less accurate estimates of total volumes of VAT and SAAT [15, 19, 20]
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