Increased ratio of trunk to appendicular fat and increased blood pressure: study of a general population of Hamamatsu children.
BACKGROUND
Body fat distribution is defined as the pattern of fat deposits in different regions of the body and usually expressed as a ratio. There are few studies on the relationship between blood pressure and the ratio of central fat measured on dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in childhood.


RESULTS
The source population consisted of 521 fifth-grade children who attended elementary school in Hamamatsu, Japan, with 401 (77.0%) included in the study. Regional fat was determined using a DXA scanner in a mobile test room. The ratio of trunk to appendicular fat was calculated as trunk fat mass divided by appendicular (arms and legs) fat mass. In boys, the trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio was significantly related to systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure after adjusting for confounding factors such as height and pubic hair appearance. In addition, an increase in trunk-to-appendicular fat ratio was related to an increase in blood pressure after adjusting for confounding factors including whole body fat volume and trunk fat volume. The relationship between fat distribution and blood pressure was not observed in girls.


CONCLUSIONS
An excessive proportion of trunk fat was related to increased blood pressure in the boys in a general population of Japanese children. The relationship between fat distribution and blood pressure was independent of the relationship between fat volume and blood pressure.
Department of Public Health, Kinki University Faculty of Medicine, Osaka-Sayama, Japan. kouda@med.kindai.ac.jp
Katsuyasu
K
Kouda
Harunobu
H
Nakamura
Yuki
Y
Fujita
Kumiko
K
Ohara
Masayuki
M
Iki
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D050154:Adiposity; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005121:Extremities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016014:Linear Models; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D060726:Torso; D055105:Waist Circumference
D015415:Biomarkers; D008055:Lipids