Effect of a weight cycle on visceral fat accumulation.
Magnetic resonance imaging was used to study the effect of a single weight cycle on three fat depots: the visceral and subcutaneous abdominal depots and the subcutaneous depot at the trochanter level. Obese subjects (17 men, 15 women) were examined before and after weight-loss intervention and 67 wk after intervention. They lost 12.9 +/- 3.3 (mean +/- SD) kg body wt during intervention and regained 11.9 +/- 5.1 kg during follow-up. Weight regain did not result in greater body fatness than before weight loss (initial fat mass: 34.3 +/- 6.1 kg, final fat mass: 32.8 +/- 7.7 kg; P = 0.047). There was no indication of a preferential deposition of visceral fat after weight regain (initial visceral fat area: 120 +/- 41 cm2, final visceral fat area: 110 +/- 48 cm2; P = 0.087). On the contrary, there was a slight tendency to accumulate subcutaneous fat at the expense of visceral fat. It is concluded that weight loss followed by weight regain neither leads to a greater body fatness nor to a larger amount of visceral fat compared with before weight loss.
van der Kooy
K
K
Wageningen Agricultural University, Department of Human Nutrition, The Netherlands.
Leenen
R
R
Seidell
J C
JC
Deurenberg
P
P
Hautvast
J G
JG
D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D005260:Female; D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014781:Viscera; D015430:Weight Gain; D015431:Weight Loss