Associations of adiponectin and body composition in African American and Caucasian adolescent girls

Abstract

The purpose of this cross‐sectional study was to determine differences in associations of adiponectin levels and body composition measurements between African American (AA) and Caucasian (C) overweight girls between ages 13 and 18. Girls were recruited from a primary care clinic and by word‐of‐mouth. Criteria for inclusion were a body mass index (BMI) of 85th percentile or higher, menstruating, and generally “healthy” at the time of recruitment. BMI, trunk fat and percent (%) fat (by DEXA), waist circumference (WC) measured at umbilicus and narrowest part of the waist and hip circumference at widest part of buttocks were measured. Waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR) was calculated. Tertiles were calculated to observe trends. The average BMI percentile was 96.6% but C girls had more trunk fat (18.6±4.7 kg) than AA girls (16.6±5.2 kg, p=0.06). Results showed that adiponectin levels decreased with increasing levels of adiposity (regardless of adiposity measure). Adiponectin levels were also consistently lower in AA girls compared to C girls for similar levels of adiposity (mean adiponectin levels 6.2±3.1 [AA] vs 10.0±4.1 [C] ug/mL, p<0.001). A similar ethnic disparity in adiponectin levels has been observed in adult populations. These results confirm that differences in adiponectin also occur at younger ages.