Waist Circumference,BMI, and Visceral Adipose Tissue in White Women and Women of African Descent |
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| Authors: | Anne E. Sumner Lisa K. Micklesfield Madia Ricks Anita V. Tambay Nilo A. Avila Francine Thomas Estelle V. Lambert Naomi S. Levitt Juliet Evans Charles N. Rotimi Marshall K. Tulloch‐Reid Julia H. Goedecke |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Clinical Endocrinology Branch, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA;2. Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;3. MRC Mineral Metabolism Research Unit, Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa;4. Cross‐sectional Imaging, Washington DC Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA;5. Department of Radiology, Clinical Center, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA;6. Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa;7. Center For Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA;8. Epidemiology Research Unit, University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica;9. Medical Research Council of South Africa, Capetown, South Africa |
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| Abstract: | Although waist circumference (WC) is a marker of visceral adipose tissue (VAT), WC cut‐points are based on BMI category. We compared WC‐BMI and WC‐VAT relationships in blacks and whites. Combining data from five studies, BMI and WC were measured in 1,409 premenopausal women (148 white South Africans, 607 African‐Americans, 186 black South Africans, 445 West Africans, 23 black Africans living in United States). In three of five studies, participants had VAT measured by computerized tomography (n = 456). Compared to whites, blacks had higher BMI (29.6 ± 7.6 (mean ± s.d.) vs. 27.6 ± 6.6 kg/m2, P = 0.001), similar WC (92 ± 16 vs. 90 ± 15 cm, P = 0.27) and lower VAT (64 ± 42 vs. 101 ± 59 cm2, P < 0.001). The WC‐BMI relationship did not differ by race (blacks: β (s.e.) WC = 0.42 (.01), whites: β (s.e.) WC = 0.40 (0.01), P = 0.73). The WC‐VAT relationship was different in blacks and whites (blacks: β (s.e.) WC = 1.38 (0.11), whites: β (s.e.) WC = 3.18 (0.21), P < 0.001). Whites had a greater increase in VAT per unit increase in WC. WC‐BMI and WC‐VAT relationships did not differ among black populations. As WC‐BMI relationship did not differ by race, the same BMI‐based WC guidelines may be appropriate for black and white women. However, if WC is defined by VAT, race‐specific WC thresholds are required. |
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