Visceral adipose tissue accumulation differs according to ethnic background: results of the Multicultural Community Health Assessment Trial (M-CHAT).
BACKGROUND
It was suggested that body fat distribution differs across ethnic groups, and this may be important when considering risk of disease. Previous studies have not adequately investigated differences in discrete regions of abdominal adiposity across ethnic groups.


OBJECTIVE
We compared the relation between abdominal adipose tissue and total body fat between persons living in Canada of Aboriginal, Chinese, and South Asian origin with persons of European origin.


METHODS
Healthy Aboriginal, Chinese, European, and South Asian participants (n = 822) aged between 30 and 65 y were matched by sex, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI; in kg/m(2)) range. Total abdominal adipose tissue (TAT), subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), total body fat mass, lifestyle, and demographics were assessed. Relations between BMI and total body fat, TAT, SAT, and VAT and between total body fat and TAT, SAT, and VAT were investigated.


RESULTS
BMI significantly underestimated VAT in all non-European groups. Throughout a range of total body fat mass, VAT was not significantly different between the Aboriginals and the Europeans. With total body fat >9.1 kg, Chinese participants had increasingly greater amounts of VAT than did the Europeans (P for interaction = 0.008). South Asians had less VAT with total body fat >37.4 kg but more VAT below that amount than did Europeans (P for interaction < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Compared with Europeans, the Chinese and South Asian cohorts had a relatively greater amount of abdominal adipose tissue, and this difference was more pronounced with VAT. No significant differences were observed between the Aboriginals and the Europeans.
School of Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada. slear@providencehealth.bc.ca
Scott A
SA
Lear
Karin H
KH
Humphries
Simi
S
Kohli
Arun
A
Chockalingam
Jiri J
JJ
Frohlich
C Laird
CL
Birmingham
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044467:American Indian or Alaska Native; D044466:Asian People; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001955:British Columbia; D003710:Demography; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018579:Patient Selection; D014781:Viscera; D044465:White People