title: Regional fat distribution in adolescent and adult females with anorexia nervosa: A longitudinal study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  No study has yet compared body fat distribution before and after weight restoration in adolescent and adult patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) treated according to the same protocol. The study was set up to measure body fat distribution before and after short-term weight restoration in adolescent and adult patients with AN treated according to the same protocol in a specialist inpatient unit.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 33 consecutive adolescent female patients with AN, and 33 controls matched by age and post-treatment BMI centile, as well as 33 adult female patients with AN, and 33 controls matched by age and post-treatment BMI. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) was used to assess body composition before and after short-term weight restoration (BMI ≥ 18.5 kg/m²).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with controls, both adolescents and adults with AN showed that a greater amount of fat was lost from the extremities than the trunk before weight restoration, and that there was a central adiposity phenotype after short-term weight restoration. There were no significant differences in body fat distribution between adolescents and adults with AN before or after short-term weight restoration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adolescent and adult females with AN have similar body fat distribution both before and after short-term weight restoration, and show a central adiposity phenotype after short-term weight restoration. The clinical implications of this finding are as yet unknown. Clinical Trials Registry- Regional Fat Distribution in Adolescent Girls and Adults with Anorexia Nervosa (ISRCTN73572502).
authors.affiliation: Department of Eating and Weight Disorders, Villa Garda Hospital, Via Montebaldo, 89, 37016 Garda, Verona, Italy. Electronic address: marwan1979@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Marwan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Ghoch
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Milanese
authors.affiliation: Department of Eating and Weight Disorders, Villa Garda Hospital, Via Montebaldo, 89, 37016 Garda, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calugi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Manfred J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Christian-Albrechts University, Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pourhassan
authors.affiliation: Department of Eating and Weight Disorders, Villa Garda Hospital, Via Montebaldo, 89, 37016 Garda, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruocco
authors.affiliation: Department of Eating and Weight Disorders, Villa Garda Hospital, Via Montebaldo, 89, 37016 Garda, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dalle Grave
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000856:Anorexia Nervosa / Q000503:physiopathology*; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Anorexia nervosa; DXA; Eating disorders; Inpatient treatment; Regional body composition