Relationship Of Visceral Fat Accumulation And Arteriosclerosis Risk In Obese Children

Abstract

PURPOSE: In recent years, there has been increasing attention focused on new factors strongly related to arteriosclerosis such as the ratio of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) to low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), or the “L/H ratio,” and adiponectin.Therefore, this study compared the relationships between body fat percentage, visceral fat mass and subcutaneous fat mass with arteriosclerosis risk factors in obese and non-obese children. METHODS: Subjects comprised 112 children (age: 7.5 - 12.6 years) who consented to participate in this study. They were divided into an obese group (68 children, age: 9.7±1.5 years) and a non-obese group (44 children, age: 9.6±1.4 years) with an obesity index score of 20% or higher the cutoff for determining obesity. The Bod Pod system was used to measure body density and body fat percentage was then calculated. MRI with 0.2T magnetic field strength was used to calculate visceral fat and subcutaneous fat cross-sectional areas in the horizontal plane between lumbar vertebrae 4 and 5. Venous blood collection was performed during fasting in the early morning. TC, LDL-C, HDL-C, triglycerides, blood glucose level, insulin, HbA1c and adiponectin were analyzed, and L/H ratio and the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) index were calculated. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure was measured three times and the lowest values for each were used as data. RESULTS: Comparison of the correlation coefficients of test items with body fat percentage, subcutaneous fat area/height and visceral fat area/height in obese children indicated that the correlation coefficient of visceral fat area/height for LDL-C, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure and adiponectin was significantly higher than for the other two indices. Comparison of the correlation coefficients with visceral fat area/height between the obese and non-obese groups indicated that the correlation coefficient was significantly higher for the obese group with regards to TC, LDL-C, insulin, HOMA index, systolic blood pressure and adiponectin. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrated that although obese children tend to exhibit subcutaneous fat obesity, visceral fat is more strongly related to arteriosclerosis risk factors than body fat percentage and subcutaneous fat.