The Association of Body Composition with Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Apparently Healthy Young Adult Females

Abstract

Although risk factors associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) such as excess adiposity are oftentimes detected in young adults, most of the research examining these relationships has focused on middle-aged and older adults and those “at-risk” for chronic diseases. Given the U.S. trend of increased obesity prevalence with age and the high prevalence of metabolic abnormalities in normal-weight young adult females, understanding the link between body composition and CMD risk in healthy young females is important for developing intervention strategies for primary prevention of obesity and CMD diseases. PURPOSE: Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the associations of body composition with CMD risk factors in apparently healthy young adult females. METHODS: Twenty-five non-obese [body mass index (BMI) < 30 kg/ m2] apparently healthy females (22.6 ± 4.2 years) took part in this cross-sectional study. All participants had height, weight, waist circumference (WC), body composition using Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry, resting heart rate (HR), blood pressure, and fasting biomarkers assessed. Bivariate correlations using Spearman’s rho were used to examine the relationships of CMD risk factors with anthropometric obesity indices and body composition. Significance was set a priori at P≤0.05. RESULTS: Significant associations were found between waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) and resting HR (Spearman’s ρ = 0.436, P = 0.03), cholesterol (ρ = 0.404, P = 0.04), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (ρ = 0.475, P = 0.02), and glucose (ρ = 0.485, P = 0.01); BMI and resting HR (ρ = 0.41, P = 0.04), cholesterol (ρ = 0.437, P = 0.03), and LDL-C (ρ = 0.477, P = 0.02); total body fat percentage and resting HR (ρ = 0.636, P = 0.001); bone mineral content and glucose (ρ = -0.536, P = 0.007); and lean mass and glucose (ρ = -0.461, P = 0.02). WC was not significantly associated with any of the CMD risk factors. CONCLUSION: While WHtR was correlated with more CMD risk factors than other measures of body composition, the strongest correlation was found between total body fat percentage and resting heart rate. These data suggests that body composition may play an important role in cardiometabolic health in young adult females even when classified as apparently healthy and non-obese.