title: Dietary fat composition, total body fat and regional body fat distribution in two Caucasian populations of middle-aged and older adult women.
abstract: We aimed to study whether dietary fat composition (n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids ratio (PUFAs) and PUFAs and saturated fatty acids (SFAs) ratio) is associated with total body fat (TF) and body fat distribution and whether this association was modified by the presence of chronic disease in middle-aged and elderly women in two population-based cohorts in the Netherlands and Australia.
  
  
  
  The study was performed in the Rotterdam Study (RS), a prospective cohort study among subjects aged 55 years and older (N = 1182 women) and the Calcium Intake Fracture Outcome Study (CAIFOS), a 5-year randomized controlled trial among women age 70+ (N = 891). At baseline, diet (i.e. PUFAs and SFAs) was measured by validated food frequency questionnaires. TF was assessed using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in both studies and android abdominal fat (AF), gynoid fat (GF) and the android/gynoid ratio (A/G ratio) in the RS but not the CAIFOS. Chronic disease was defined as the presence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus and cancer.
  
  
  
  No association was found between dietary n-3/n-6 PUFAs ratio or SFA/PUFAs ratio with TF in both cohorts. In the RS, a high n-3/n-6 PUFAs ratio was associated with a higher AF (3rd vs. 2nd tertile (reference): β: 0.15; 95% CI: 0.05, 0.24) but not with the A/G ratio. A low SFA/PUFA ratio was associated with a lower AF (1st vs. 2nd tertile (reference): β: -0.12; 95% CI: -0.22, -0.06) but not with the A/G ratio. Presence of chronic disease was found to be a significant effect modifier in both cohorts with regard to n-3/n-6 PUFAs and TF (P < 0.05). In participants without chronic disease, a higher n-3/n-6 PUFAs ratio was associated with a higher TF in the RS cohort (3rd vs. 2nd tertile (reference): β: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.12, 1.76), but this was not replicated in CAIFOS.
  
  
  
  These findings do not support the hypothesis that dietary fat composition is consistently associated with TF and body fat distribution in women. Future studies should clarify to what extent these findings may be influenced by the presence of chronic disease.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: t.muka@erasmusmc.nl.
authors: Taulant
authors: T
authors: Muka
authors: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors: Lauren C
authors: LC
authors: Blekkenhorst
authors: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia; Centre for Kidney Research, Children's Hospital at Westmead School of Public Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
authors: Joshua R
authors: JR
authors: Lewis
authors: School of Medicine and Pharmacology, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia.
authors: Richar L
authors: RL
authors: Prince
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Biostatistics, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Nicole S
authors: NS
authors: Erler
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Albert
authors: A
authors: Hofman
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Oscar H
authors: OH
authors: Franco
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors: Fernando
authors: F
authors: Rivadeneira
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Leiden University College, The Hague, The Netherlands.
authors: Jessica C
authors: JC
authors: Kiefte-de Jong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001315:Australia; D001823:Body Composition; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015444:Exercise; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6 / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D005227:Fatty Acids; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3; D043371:Fatty Acids, Omega-6
keywords: Android fat; Body fat; Fat composition; Gynoid fat; Polyunsaturated fatty acids; Saturated fatty acids