title: Biogeographic ancestry is associated with higher total body adiposity among African-American females: the Boston Area Community Health Survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The prevalence of obesity is disproportionately higher among African-Americans and Hispanics as compared to whites. We investigated the role of biogeographic ancestry (BGA) on adiposity and changes in adiposity in the Boston Area Community Health Survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated associations between BGA, assessed via Ancestry Informative Markers, and adiposity (body mass index (BMI), percent body fat (PBF), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR)) and changes in adiposity over 7 years for BMI and WHR and 2.5 years for PBF, per 10% greater proportion of BGA using multivariable linear regression. We also examined effect-modification by demographic and socio-behavioral variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed positive associations between West-African ancestry and cross-sectional BMI (percent difference=0.62%; 95% CI: 0.04%, 1.20%), and PBF (β=0.35; 95% CI: 0.11, 0.58). We also observed significant effect-modification of the association between West-African ancestry and BMI by gender (p-interaction: <0.002) with a substantially greater association in women. We observed no main associations between Native-American ancestry and adiposity but observed significant effect-modification of the association with BMI by diet (p-interaction: <0.003) with inverse associations among participants with higher Healthy Eating Scores. No associations were observed between BGA and changes in adiposity over time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings support that West-African ancestry may contribute to high prevalence of total body adiposity among African-Americans, particularly African-American women.
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, New England Research Institutes, 480 Pleasant St., Watertown, MA 02472, United States of America.
authors: Sunali D
authors: SD
authors: Goonesekera
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, New England Research Institutes, 480 Pleasant St., Watertown, MA 02472, United States of America; Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, United States of America.
authors: Shona C
authors: SC
authors: Fang
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, New England Research Institutes, 480 Pleasant St., Watertown, MA 02472, United States of America.
authors: Rebecca S
authors: RS
authors: Piccolo
authors: Diabetes Unit/ Center for Human Genetic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, United States of America.
authors: Jose C
authors: JC
authors: Florez
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, New England Research Institutes, 480 Pleasant St., Watertown, MA 02472, United States of America.
authors: John B
authors: JB
authors: McKinlay
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000235:genetics*; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000483:Alleles; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001900:Boston; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D005843:Geography; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000235:genetics; D012737:Sex Factors; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers