title: High fat diets are associated with higher abdominal adiposity regardless of physical activity in adolescents; the HELENA study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Failure to attain fat balance may contribute to obesity development even without excessive energy intake. The objective of this study was to examine the associations of dietary macronutrient distribution with abdominal adiposity in adolescents and to evaluate whether these relationships were attenuated by physical activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 224 Spanish adolescents (51% females, 14.9 ± 1.2 years) were included in the study. Abdominal adiposity in three regions, truncal and total body fat mass (FM) and lean mass (LM) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and thereafter FM index (FMI = FM/height(2)) and FMI/LMI ratio were calculated. The energy derived from fat intake was assessed by two non-consecutive 24 h recalls. Total physical activity (PA) and time spent in moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and vigorous PA were objectively measured by accelerometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed that the percent of energy derived from fat intake was significantly associated with FMI and FMI/LMI ratio (Ps = 0.001) and greater amounts of truncal (P = 0.001) and abdominal adiposity in the three regions regardless of age, sex and height (all P ≤ 0.005). The strength of the relationships was not substantially altered by further adjustment for PA, vigorous PA or moderate-to-vigorous PA (Ps ≤ 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The percent of energy derived from dietary fat intake is strongly and linearly associated with total, truncal and abdominal adiposity independently of PA in adolescents. These observations implicate the amount of dietary fat intake as a specific risk factor in the excess of abdominal adiposity in adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU, Vitoria, Spain. Electronic address: idoia.labayen@ehu.es.
authors.forename: Idoia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Labayen
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, School of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; PROFITH, PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity.
authors.forename: Jonatan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ruiz
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Education and Sport, School of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain; PROFITH, PROmoting FITness and Health Through Physical Activity.
authors.forename: Francisco B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; International Agency for Research on Cancer, Dietary Exposure Assessment Group, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Huybrechts
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: Gerardo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiménez-Pavón
authors.affiliation: Human Nutrition Unit, National Research Institute for Food and Nutrition, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Romana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roccaldo
authors.affiliation: Immunonutrition Research Group, Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nova
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition and Metabolism, Department of Pediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Widhalm
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, University of Crete, Crete, Greece.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kafatos
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Pecs, Pécs, Hungary.
authors.forename: Dénés
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Molnar
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Odysseas
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Androutsos
authors.affiliation: GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) Research Group, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain; Department of Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luis A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Moreno
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D059305:Diet, High-Fat / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009043:Motor Activity; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013030:Spain; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats
keywords: Abdominal adiposity; Adolescents; Dietary macronutrient distribution; Physical activity