Effects of ethnicity, gender, obesity, and age on central fat distribution

Population based studies relying primarily upon anthropometric surrogates of fat distribution have shown that central or upper-body adiposity is related to ethnicity, gender, age, and total body fatness. As an improvement over anthropometry, dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) provides more precise measurements of fat mass (FM) in the total body and trunk. DXA was performed on 510 apparently healthy White (81 females (f), 64 males (m)), Black (94 f, 79 m), and Puerto Rican (102 f, 100 m) adults aged 20–75 years in order to determine and compare the effects of race, gender, age, and total FM on trunk FM. Trunk FM was greater for Blacks and Puerto Ricans than Whites, irrespective of gender (P 0.67). Females had less %TrFM than males in all three ethnic groups (all P 0.16), but the coefficient for total FM was larger for Puerto Rican compared to Black females (P = 0.043). Trunk FM increased with age in Whites and Puerto Ricans (P 0.24). The effects of age did not differ by gender or ethnicity among Whites and Puerto Ricans (P > 0.10). Adjustment for total FM and age eliminated ethnic and gender differences in trunk FM (all P > 0.37). The results suggest that the high levels of central adiposity observed among Blacks and Hispanics relative to Whites reflect patterns of generalized obesity observed in the respective populations. Patterns of accumulation of truncal FM with increasing age and obesity may not be generalizable to all ethnic groups. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 10:361–369, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Anthropometry · Biology · Body mass index · Ethnic group · Obesity · Population · Puerto rican · Trunk · Body Composition Measurement Techniques · Demography · Internal Medicine · Medicine · Nutrition and Health in Aging · Obesity and Health Practices · Gerontology