Effect of Gender on Intra-abdominal Fat in Teenagers and Young Adults

Overview

Journal Pediatr Radiol

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2010 Nov 2

PMID 21038077

Citations 3

Authors

Sandra A Chung

Frederick Dorey

Steven Mittelman

Vicente Gilsanz

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Adult men accumulate greater intra-abdominal fat (IAF) than adult women, a difference closely related to gender differences in cardiometabolic disease risk in the elderly. However, the time when this gender difference appears is a matter of controversy.

Objective: We examine the influence of gender on IAF deposition in lean, overweight and obese teenagers and young adults.

Materials And Methods: We measured subcutaneous abdominal fat (SAF) and IAF in 505 healthy sexually mature teenagers and young adults (254 males, 251 females; 15-22 years) using a single CT scan at the level of the umbilicus.

Results: Regardless of body size, young females had greater SAF values than young males. Although lean females had higher IAF values than lean males (13.7 ± 7.8 vs. 11.2 ± 5.4; P = 0.001), overweight and obese females and males had strikingly similar IAF values (23.4 ± 11.1 vs. 23.1 ± 9.5; P = 0.88 and 36.5 ± 20.4 vs. 38.8 ± 13.2; P = 0.59, respectively). In contrast, the ratio of IAF/SAF was greater in males than females, except in the very obese. Multiple regression analysis indicated that while gender was a strong predictor of SAF in lean and overweight subjects (P's < 0.0001), it did not influence IAF after adjusting for height and weight (P = 0.35 and 0.65, respectively) in overweight and obese subjects.

Conclusion: Overweight and obese young women have similar absolute amounts of IAF as young men.

Citing Articles

Increased Abdominal Adiposity in Adolescents and Young Adults With Classical Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia due to 21-Hydroxylase Deficiency.

Kim M, Ryabets-Lienhard A, Dao-Tran A, Mittelman S, Gilsanz V, Schrager S J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015; 100(8):E1153-9.

PMID: 26062016 PMC: 4524992. DOI: 10.1210/jc.2014-4033.

Female mice are more susceptible to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: sex-specific regulation of the hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase-plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 cascade, but not the hepatic endotoxin response.

Spruss A, Henkel J, Kanuri G, Blank D, Puschel G, Bischoff S Mol Med. 2012; 18:1346-55.

PMID: 22952059 PMC: 3521787. DOI: 10.2119/molmed.2012.00223.

Differential effect of gender on hepatic fat.

Gilsanz V, Chung S, Kaplowitz N Pediatr Radiol. 2011; 41(9):1146-53.

PMID: 21404026 DOI: 10.1007/s00247-011-2021-7.

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