Sagittal Abdominal Diameter Is a Strong Anthropometric Measure of Visceral Adipose Tissue in the Asian General Population

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Finding the anthropometric measure of visceral obesity is essential to clinical practice, because it predicts cardiovascular and metabolic risks. Sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) has been proposed as an estimate of visceral adipose tissue (VAT). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of SAD in predicting visceral obesity by comparing SAD to other anthropometric measures.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

Estimation of subcutaneous and visceral adipose tissue and measurement of SAD and transverse abdominal diameter using computed tomography at the umbilical level were obtained in 5,257 men and women who were enrolled in a health checkup program in Korea. To compare SAD to other anthropometric measures, linear regression analyses were used to determine correlations between anthropometrics and visceral obesity.

RESULTS

SAD showed a stronger correlation to VAT than waist circumference, BMI, and transverse abdominal diameter in the both sexes (men: r = 0.804, women: r = 0.724). Waist circumference showed generally stronger associations to subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) than to VAT (men: r = 0.789 vs. 0.705, women: r = 0.820 vs. 0.636). Even after subdividing according to age or BMI in both sexes and analyzing multiple regressions, SAD showed the strongest correlation to VAT.

CONCLUSIONS

SAD showed the strongest correlation to VAT irrespective of age, sex, and the degree of obesity compared with other anthropometric measures, whereas waist circumference may have a stronger correlation to SAT than to VAT. The clinical use of SAD has advantages over other anthropometric measures in predicting VAT.

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Most cited references 19

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Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue compartments: association with metabolic risk factors in the Framingham Heart Study.

Caroline S. Fox, Joseph Massaro, Udo Hoffmann … (2007)

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) compartments may confer increased metabolic risk. The incremental utility of measuring both visceral and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) in association with metabolic risk factors and underlying heritability has not been well described in a population-based setting. Participants (n=3001) were drawn from the Framingham Heart Study (48% women; mean age, 50 years), were free of clinical cardiovascular disease, and underwent multidetector computed tomography assessment of SAT and VAT volumes between 2002 and 2005. Metabolic risk factors were examined in relation to increments of SAT and VAT after multivariable adjustment. Heritability was calculated using variance-components analysis. Among both women and men, SAT and VAT were significantly associated with blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and with increased odds of hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome (P range < 0.01). In women, relations between VAT and risk factors were consistently stronger than in men. However, VAT was more strongly correlated with most metabolic risk factors than was SAT. For example, among women and men, both SAT and VAT were associated with increased odds of metabolic syndrome. In women, the odds ratio (OR) of metabolic syndrome per 1-standard deviation increase in VAT (OR, 4.7) was stronger than that for SAT (OR, 3.0; P for difference between SAT and VAT < 0.0001); similar differences were noted for men (OR for VAT, 4.2; OR for SAT, 2.5). Furthermore, VAT but not SAT contributed significantly to risk factor variation after adjustment for body mass index and waist circumference (P < or = 0.01). Among overweight and obese individuals, the prevalence of hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, and metabolic syndrome increased linearly and significantly across increasing VAT quartiles. Heritability values for SAT and VAT were 57% and 36%, respectively. Although both SAT and VAT are correlated with metabolic risk factors, VAT remains more strongly associated with an adverse metabolic risk profile even after accounting for standard anthropometric indexes. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized role of visceral fat as a unique, pathogenic fat depot. Measurement of VAT may provide a more complete understanding of metabolic risk associated with variation in fat distribution.

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Predictive values of body mass index and waist circumference for risk factors of certain related diseases in Chinese adults--study on optimal cut-off points of body mass index and waist circumference in Chinese adults.

Bei-Fan Zhou (2002)

For prevention of obesity in Chinese population, it is necessary to define the optimal range of healthy weight and the appropriate cut-off points of BMI and waist circumference for Chinese adults. The Working Group on Obesity in China under the support of International Life Sciences Institute Focal point in China organized a meta-analysis on the relation between BMI, waist circumference and risk factors of related chronic diseases (e.g., high diabetes, diabetes mellitus, and lipoprotein disorders). 13 population studies in all met the criteria for enrollment, with data of 239,972 adults (20-70 year) surveyed in the 1990s. Data on waist circumference was available for 111,411 persons and data on serum lipids and glucose were available for more than 80,000. The study populations located in 21 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in mainland China as well as in Taiwan. Each enrolled study provided data according to a common protocol and uniform format. The Center for data management in Department of Epidemiology, Fu Wai Hospital was responsible for statistical analysis. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia and clustering of risk factors all increased with increasing levels of BMI or waist circumference. BMI at 24 with best sensitivity and specificity for identification of the risk factors, was recommended as the cut-off point for overweight, BMI at 28 which may identify the risk factors with specificity around 90% was recommended as the cut-off point for obesity. Waist circumference beyond 85 cm for men and beyond 80 cm for women were recommended as the cut-off points for central obesity. Analysis of population attributable risk percent illustrated that reducing BMI to normal range ( or = 28) with drugs could prevent 15%-17% clustering of risk factors. The waist circumference controlled under 85 cm for men and under 80 cm for women, could prevent 47%-58% clustering of risk factors. According to these, a classification of overweight and obesity for Chinese adults is recommended.

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Beyond body mass index.

A Prentice, S. Jebb (2001)

Body mass index (BMI) is the cornerstone of the current classification system for obesity and its advantages are widely exploited across disciplines ranging from international surveillance to individual patient assessment. However, like all anthropometric measurements, it is only a surrogate measure of body fatness. Obesity is defined as an excess accumulation of body fat, and it is the amount of this excess fat that correlates with ill-health. We propose therefore that much greater attention should be paid to the development of databases and standards based on the direct measurement of body fat in populations, rather than on surrogate measures. In support of this argument we illustrate a wide range of conditions in which surrogate anthropometric measures (especially BMI) provide misleading information about body fat content. These include: infancy and childhood; ageing; racial differences; athletes; military and civil forces personnel; weight loss with and without exercise; physical training; and special clinical circumstances. We argue that BMI continues to serve well for many purposes, but that the time is now right to initiate a gradual evolution beyond BMI towards standards based on actual measurements of body fat mass.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Diabetes Care

Journal ID (hwp): diacare

Journal ID (pmc): dcare

Journal ID (publisher-id): Diabetes Care

Title: Diabetes Care

Publisher: American Diabetes Association

ISSN (Print): 0149-5992

ISSN (Electronic): 1935-5548

Publication date (Print): December 2010

Publication date (Electronic): 15 September 2010

Volume: 33

Issue: 12

Pages: 2665-2670

Affiliations

[1] ¹Department of Internal Medicine, Healthcare Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea;

[2] ²Radiology Department, Healthcare Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital Healthcare System Gangnam Center, Seoul, Korea.

Author notes

Corresponding author: Donghee Kim, messmd@ 123456chol.com .

Article

Publisher ID: 0606

DOI: 10.2337/dc10-0606

PMC ID: 2992209

PubMed ID: 20843976

SO-VID: d3063ae6-9e51-45db-ba9f-e18976a7e57e

License:

Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.

Sagittal Abdominal Diameter Is a Strong Anthropometric Measure of Visceral Adipose Tissue in the Asian General Population

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS

Related collections

Journal of the ASEAN Federation of Endocrine Societies

Most cited references 19

Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue compartments: association with metabolic risk factors in the Framingham Heart Study.

Predictive values of body mass index and waist circumference for risk factors of certain related diseases in Chinese adults--study on optimal cut-off points of body mass index and waist circumference in Chinese adults.

Beyond body mass index.

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