Age and sex variation in the distribution of visceral fat among healthy doctors

Anusha Maria Joy; Pallavi Panchu; Biju Bahuleyan; Vineetha Vijayan; John Jojy

doi:10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20185378

Authors

Anusha Maria Joy Student, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Pallavi Panchu Department of Physiology, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Biju Bahuleyan Department of Physiology, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Vineetha Vijayan Department of Physiology, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala, India
John Jojy Student, Jubilee Mission Medical College and Research Institute, Thrissur, Kerala, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-6012.ijrms20185378

Keywords:

BMI, BFP, Doctors, NCD, Visceral fat

Abstract

Background: Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are a mushrooming problem and accounts for majority of deaths. Paradoxically the population of Kerala is increasingly susceptible to NCDs despite having good access to health care. Doctors work in highly stressful conditions and often adopt sedentary lifestyles thereby forming a subset of the NCD prone population. The objective of this study was to assess the health status of the doctors which would provide an insight into their health and level of awareness regarding the role of lifestyle in prevention of NCDs.

Methods: Sixty five doctors participated in this Cross-Sectional Observational study conducted at a CME in Kerala. After obtaining Institutional Ethical clearance, demographic profile was collected, and fat levels were estimated using body composition analyzer (OMRON-HBF375). The results were tabulated using Microsoft Office Excel, analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Results: On classifying the study group based on BMI, only 34 were normal, 26 were Overweight, and 4 were Obese. Gender wise distribution of body fat revealed only 4 had normal body fat composition. The study also showed that as age advances the amount of total and visceral fat shows a significant upward trend in males.

Conclusions: BMI alone cannot be used as a predictor of health status. Body Fat percentage analysis should be included in routine screening programs. Men have a tendency to develop visceral adiposity with age. Females depend more on fat as primary source and hence females will respond better to a properly programmed exercise regime and men to a well guided diet program with exercise.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

World health organization. Burden of NCDs and their risk factors in India (Excerpted from Global Status Report on NCDs -2014). Available at: http://www.searo.who.int/india/topics/noncommunicable_diseases/ncd_situation_global_report_ncds_2014.pdf. Accessed 24 October 2018.

State Planning Board, Government of Kerala. Human Development Report; 2005. Available at: http://planningcommission.nic.in/plans/stateplan/sdr_pdf/shdr_kerala05.pdf . Accessed 24 October 2018.

Shetty PS. Nutrition transition in India. Public Health Nutr. 2002;5:175±182. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/public-health-nutrition/article/nutrition-transition-in-india/8B3C4A71EE883791E4AF0828E43BD4B9 Accessed 23 October 2018.

2015-WHO Statistics. Available at: http://www.who.int/gho/publications/world_health_statistics/EN_WHS10_Full.pdf. Accessed 24 October 2018.

Steyn K, Albertino D. Disease and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2nd edition; Chapter 18: Lifestyle and Related Risk Factors for Chronic Diseases; 2006:247-267. Available at: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/7050/363050Disease0101OFFICIAL0USE0ONLY1.pdf?sequence=1 Accessed 24 October 2018.

Lean ME, Han TS, Morrison CE. Waist circumference as a measure for indicating need for weight management. BMJ. 1995;311(6998):158±61. (PMID: 7613427; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2550221).

Pouliot MC, Despres JP, Lemieux S, Moorjani S, Bouchard C, Tremblay A, et al. Waist circumference and abdominal sagittal diameter: best simple anthropometric indexes of abdominal visceral adipose tissue accumulation and related cardiovascular risk in men and women. Ame J Cardiol.1994;73(7):460±8. (PMID: 8141087).

Manolopoulos KN, Karpe F, Frayn KN. Gluteofemoral body fat as a determinant of metabolic health. Int J Obes. 2010;34:949-59.

Pi-Sunyer FX. The epidemiology of central fat distribution in relation to disease. Nutr Rev. 2004;62:S120-6.

Blaak E. Gender differences in fat metabolism. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care. 2001;4(6):499-502. (PMID:11706283).

Suresh N, Reddy RPL. Effect of lifestyle on body fat percentage and visceral fat in Indian women with above normal body mass index. Int J Cur Res Rev. 2017;9(19):32-6.

Wan CS, Ward LC, Halim J, Gow ML, Ho M, Briody JN, et al. Bioelectrical impedance analysis to estimate body composition, and change in adiposity, in overweight and obese adolescents: comparison with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. BMC Pediatr. 2014;14(1):1-10.

Sathish T, Kannan S, Sarma SP, Razum O, Sauzet O, Thankappan KR. Seven-year longitudinal change in risk factors for non-communicable diseases in rural Kerala, India: The WHO STEPS approach. PloS one. 2017 Jun 9;12(6):e0178949.

WHO Regional Report. The Asia-Pacific perspective redefining obesity and its treatment, Health Communications Australia Pvt Limited, Australia; 2000. [cited 2018 June 12] Available at: http://www.who.int/westernpacific/about/how-we-work/programmes/nutrition. Accessed 24 October 2018

Karastergiou K, Smith SR, Greenberg AS, Fried SK. Sex differences in human adipose tissues- the biology of pear shape. Biology of sex differences. 2012 Dec;3(1):13.

Puder JJ, Varga S, Kraenzlin M, De Geyter C, Keller U, Müller B. Central fat excess in polycystic ovary syndrome: relation to low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005;90:6014-21.

Carmina E, Bucchieri S, Esposito A, Del Puente A, Mansueto P, Orio F, et al. Abdominal fat quantity and distribution in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and extent of its relation to insulin resistance. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007;92:2500-5.

Barber TM, Golding SJ, Alvey C, Wass JA, Karpe F, Franks S, et al. Global adiposity rather than abnormal regional fat distribution characterizes women with polycystic ovary syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008;93:999-1004.

Womersley J, Durnin JVGA. A comparison of the skinfold method with extent of overweight and various weight–height relationships in the assessment of obesity. Br J Nutr. 1977;38:271-84.

Jackson AS, Stanforth PR, Gagnon J, Rankinen T, Leon AS, Rao DC, et al. The effect of sex, age and race on estimating percentage body fat from body mass index: The Heritage Family Study. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2002;26:789-96.

Mills, TC. Predicting body fat using data on the BMI. J Stat Educ. 2005;13:1-12.

Pasco JA, Nicholson GC, Brennan SL, Kotowicz MA. Prevalence of obesity and the relationship between the body mass index and body fat: cross-sectional, population-based data. PloS one. 2012 Jan 13;7(1):e29580.

Nuttall FQ. Body mass index: obesity, BMI, and health: a critical review. Nutrition today. 2015 May;50(3):117.

Baptiste CG, Battista MC, Trottier A, Baillargeon JP. Insulin and hyperandrogenism in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. J Ster Biochem Mol Biol. 2010 Oct 1;122(1-3):42-52.

Vella V, Len K. Gender Differences in Fat Metabolism. Available at: https://www.unm.edu/~lkravitz/Article%20folder/genderdifferences.html. Accessed 24 October 2018

Lafontan M. Inhibition of epinephrine-induced lipolysis in isolated white adipocytes of aging rabbits by increased alpha-adrenergic responsiveness. J Lipid Res. 1979 Feb;20(2):208-16.

Hunter GR, Gower BA, Kane BL. Departments of Human Studies and Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham. Age Related Shift in Visceral Fat. Int J Body Compos Res. 2010 September 1;8(3):103-8.

Hardy OT, Czech MP, Corvera S. What causes the insulin resistance underlying obesity? Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2012 Apr;19(2):81-7.

Bjorntorp P. Classification of obese patients and complications related to the distribution of surplus fat. Nutrition. 1990;6:131-7. [PubMed: 2134524]

Filipovsky J, Ducimetiere P, Darne B, Richard JL. Abdominal body mass distribution and elevated blood pressure are associated with increased risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and cancer in middle aged men. The results of a 15 to 20 year follow up in the Paris prospective study I. Int J Obes. 1993;17:197-203.

Seidell JC, Andres R, Sorkin JD, Muller DC. The sagittal waist diameter and mortality in men: the Baltimore longitudinal study in aging. Int J Obes. 1994;18:61-7.

Williams MJ, Hunter GR, Kekes-Szabo T, Snyder S, Treuth MS. Regional fat distribution in women and risk of cardiovascular disease. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997;65:855-60. [PubMed: 9062540]

Hunter GR, Kekes-Szabo T, Snyder S, Nicholson C, Nyikos I, Berland L. Fat distribution, physical activity, and cardiovascular risk factors. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1997;29:362-9. [PubMed: 9139175]

Nguyen TT, Hernández Mijares A, Johnson CM, Jensen MD. Postprandial leg and splanchnic fatty acid metabolism in nonobese men and women. Am J Physiol. 1996;271:E965-72.

Banerji MA, Faridi N, Alturi R Chaiken RL, Lebovitz HE. Body composition, Visceral Fat, leptin and insulin resistance in Asian Indian me. J Crin Endocrin Metalab. 1999;84:137-44.

Dudeja V, Mishra A, Pandey RM, Devina G, Kumar G, Vikram NK. BMI does not accurately predict overweight in Asian Indian in Northern India. Br J Nutr. 2001;86:105-12.