title: Greater abdominal fat accumulation is associated with higher metabolic risk in Chinese than in white people: an ethnicity study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chinese are reported to have a higher percent body fat (%BF) and a higher percent trunk fat (%TF) than whites for a given body mass index (BMI). However, the associations of these ethnic differences in body composition with metabolic risks remain unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1 029 Chinese from Hangzhou, China, and 207 whites from New York, NY, USA, were recruited in the present study. Body composition was measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Analysis of covariance was used to assess the ethnic differences in fat, fat distribution, and metabolic risk factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for BMI, age, and height, Chinese men had an average of 3.9% more %BF and 12.1% more %TF than white men; Chinese women had an average of 2.3% more %BF and 11.8% more %TF than white women. Compared with whites, higher metabolic risks were detected in Chinese for a given BMI after adjusting for age and height. Further adjustment for %BF did not change these ethnic disparities. However, after adjusting for %TF, the ethnic differences decreased and become insignificant in triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and blood pressure (except for systolic blood pressure in men). For fasting plasma glucose, the ethnic differences persisted after adjustment for %BF, but decreased significantly from 0.910 to 0.686 mmol/L among men, and from 0.629 to 0.355 mmol/L among women, when the analyses were further controlled for %TF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Chinese have both higher %BF and %TF than white people for a given BMI. However, only %TF could in part account for the higher metabolic risk observed in Chinese men and women.
authors.affiliation: Obesity and Body Composition Research Center, Chronic Disease Research Institute, Zhejiang University School of Public Health, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Sha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Aihua
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jingjing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Allison
authors.forename: Steven B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Heymsfield
authors.forename: Shankuan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008660:Metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People