Abstract
BackgroundEthnic differences in body fat distribution contribute to ethnic differences in cardiovascular morbidities and diabetes. However few data are available on differences in fat distribution in Asian children from various backgrounds. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore ethnic differences in body fat distribution among Asian children from four countries.MethodsA total of 758 children aged 8-10 y from China, Lebanon, Malaysia and Thailand were recruited using a non-random purposive sampling approach to enrol children encompassing a wide BMI range. Height, weight, waist circumference (WC), fat mass (FM, derived from total body water [TBW] estimation using the deuterium dilution technique) and skinfold thickness (SFT) at biceps, triceps, subscapular, supraspinale and medial calf were collected.ResultsAfter controlling for height and weight, Chinese and Thai children had a significantly higher WC than their Lebanese and Malay counterparts. Chinese and Thais tended to have higher trunk fat deposits than Lebanese and Malays reflected in trunk SFT, trunk/upper extremity ratio or supraspinale/upper extremity ratio after adjustment for age and total body fat. The subscapular/supraspinale skinfold ratio was lower in Chinese and Thais compared with Lebanese and Malays after correcting for trunk SFT.ConclusionsAsian pre-pubertal children from different origins vary in body fat distribution. These results indicate the importance of population-specific WC cut-off points or other fat distribution indices to identify the population at risk of obesity-related health problems.
Highlights
Ethnic differences in body fat distribution contribute to ethnic differences in cardiovascular morbidities and diabetes
Some previous studies investigated the ethnic difference in fat distribution in terms of a trunk and extremity model [11,13,14], upper and lower body fat model [15,16,17], and subcutaneous and visceral abdominal adipose tissue model [14,18,19,20], among Caucasians, blacks and Asian adults and children
There was a significant difference in height, weight, Body mass index (BMI) and Fat mass (FM) among Chinese, Lebanese, Malays and Thais in each sex except for weight, BMI and FM in girls
Summary
Ethnic differences in body fat distribution contribute to ethnic differences in cardiovascular morbidities and diabetes. The current study aimed to explore ethnic differences in body fat distribution among Asian children from four countries. Body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat (%BF) do not fully explain the ethnic differences in cardiovascular morbidity and diabetes [5], Some previous studies investigated the ethnic difference in fat distribution in terms of a trunk and extremity model [11,13,14], upper and lower body fat model [15,16,17], and subcutaneous and visceral abdominal adipose tissue model [14,18,19,20], among Caucasians, blacks and Asian adults and children. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the influence of ethnicity on body fat patterns in Asian prepubertal children from four distinctly different origins
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