Smoking and abdominal fat in blood donors.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between smoking and abdominal fat among male blood donors.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study involving 1,235 adult male blood donors (age, 20-59 years) in the city of Cuiabá, Brazil. Socioeconomic, demographic, and anthropometric data, as well as information on the lifestyle of the participants, were collected. In this study, waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio were used as markers of abdominal fat. The association between these two markers and smoking was analyzed by multiple linear regression in separate models, adjusted for potential confounders.


RESULTS
Of the 1,235 respondents, 273 (22.1%) reported being smokers, and, of those, 99 (36.3%) reported smoking more than 15 cigarettes per day. The average body mass index was lower among smokers than among nonsmokers (p < 0.001). In the multiple linear regression analyses, smoking was associated with waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio for smokers of 6-10 cigarettes/day and of > 11 cigarettes/day.


CONCLUSIONS
In our sample, smoking was positively associated with indicators of abdominal fat, regardless of potential confounding factors, including the consumption of alcoholic beverages.
Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, MT, Brazil.
Cássia da Silva
Cda S
Faria
Clovis
C
Botelho
Regina Maria Veras Gonçalves da
RM
Silva
Márcia Gonçalves
MG
Ferreira
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D001782:Blood Donors; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012907:Smoking; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio; D055815:Young Adult