Waist circumference is associated with liver fat in black and white adolescents.
We examined whether waist circumference (WC) is associated with liver fat in black and white adolescents. Liver fat was measured using a 3T proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) in 152 overweight/obese adolescents (94 black and 58 white, body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile, aged 12-18 years) without liver diseases or diabetes. WC was measured at the last rib. Total and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. The proportion of fatty liver (defined as liver fat ≥5.0% by1H-MRS) was lower (P < 0.01) in black adolescents (5.3%) compared with their white peers (24.1%). Despite similar age, BMI, WC, and total adiposity (%), black adolescents had lower (P < 0.01) VAT (59.0% vs. 81.3 cm2), liver fat (1.6% vs. 3.5%), and alanine aminotransferase (17.2 vs. 22.0 IU/L) compared with their white peers. Independent of race, WC was associated with liver fat (black, r = 0.43; white, r = 0.64) in a similar magnitude to the association between VAT and liver fat (black, r = 0.44; white, r = 0.51) and these findings remained significant after controlling for age, sex, Tanner stage, and total adiposity. In blacks, WC and sex (male) were independent (P < 0.01) predictors of liver fat, explaining 17.1% and 5.6% of the variance, respectively, while in whites WC was the single best predictor, explaining 40.8% of the variance in liver fat. These findings suggest that enlarged WC is a marker of increased liver fat in overweight/obese white and black adolescents.
a Division of Weight Management and Wellness, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.|b Graduate School of Physical Education, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si Gyeonggi-do, 446701, Republic of Korea.
SoJung
S
Lee
c School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, ON M3J 1P3, Canada.
Jennifer L
JL
Kuk
d Department of Clinical Research, Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, and Methodology, University of Bern, Bern, CH-3010, Switzerland.
Chris
C
Boesch
a Division of Weight Management and Wellness, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.|e Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes Mellitus, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.
Silva
S
Arslanian
D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000378:metabolism; D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases / Q000378:metabolism; D044383:Black People; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D066244:Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D055105:Waist Circumference; D044465:White People
D001219:Aspartate Aminotransferases; D000410:Alanine Transaminase
childhood obesity; gras viscéral; non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; obésité infantile; proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy; race; spectroscopie par résonance magnétique du proton; stéatose hépatique non alcoolique; tour de taille; visceral fat; waist circumference