Physical Fitness Evaluation
James M. Rippe in Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Evidence supports the concept that excess accumulation of adipose tissue in the abdomen, characteristic of male type fat distribution (android, abdominal, or central obesity) is associated with a higher risk for mortality than peripheral distribution of body fat.63 This is because fat that surrounds the internal organs, known as visceral fat, is most closely associated with metabolic disorders that increase cardiovascular risk, including insulin resistance, lipid abnormalities, and heightened markers of inflammation. Since BMI also fails to take body fat distribution into account, waist circumference provides a practical method for assessing mortality risk associated with central distribution of fat, if a direct body fat assessment is not available. Waist circumference correlates more strongly with abdominal fat than BMI. Waist circumferences >102 cm for men and >88 cm for women are associated with increased cardiovascular risk.64,65
Fat Distribution and Diabetes Mellitus
Emmanuel C. Opara, Sam Dagogo-Jack in Nutrition and Diabetes, 2019
Upper-body abdominal adipose tissue is anatomically divided by the fascia superficialis (Scarpa’s fascia) into superficial and deep subcutaneous abdominal fat.23 Visceral intra-abdominal fat includes omental and mesenteric fat depots, which drain into the portal vein and thus can have a disproportionate impact on liver metabolism.24 Visceral fat comprises the minor component of total body fat, and represents approximately 10% and 5% of total body fat in normal-weight men and women, respectively. Although perirenal fat is also anatomically located intra-abdominally, it is not typically characterized as visceral fat because its venous drainage is into the inferior vena cava. Deep subcutaneous fat and visceral abdominal fat are better correlated with the metabolic sequelae of obesity.3
Weight Concerns
Carolyn Torkelson, Catherine Marienau in Beyond Menopause, 2023
There are two kinds of body fat: subcutaneous fat and visceral (intra-abdominal) fat.Subcutaneous fat is the belly fat you can feel if you pinch excess skin and soft tissue around your middle. In most people, about 90% of body fat is subcutaneous, the kind that lies in a layer just beneath the skin.Visceral fat accumulates in your abdomen in the spaces surrounding the liver, intestines, and other organs. It’s also stored in the omentum, an apron-like flap of tissue that lies under the belly muscles and covers the intestines. Although visceral fat makes up only 10% of body fat, it is linked more strongly than subcutaneous fat to greater risk of serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. No matter what your body shape or BMI, excess belly fat isn’t good for your health.
Heritable components of the human fecal microbiome are associated with visceral fat
Published in Gut Microbes, 2018
Caroline I. Le Roy, Michelle Beaumont, Matthew A. Jackson, Claire J. Steves, Timothy D. Spector, Jordana T. Bell
The obesity epidemic is a global health burden that concerns an increasing percentage of the population worldwide. Obesity leads to increased cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk.1 Although overall obesity, as measured by body mass index (BMI) is generally the most commonly used phenotype to assess health implications, it is the accumulation of visceral fat that is the most significant cardio-metabolic disease risk factor.2,3 Visceral fat is the deposition of adipose tissue around central metabolic organs such as the liver or the gastrointestinal tract, which can modify their activity. In contrast, subcutaneous fat deposition, even if not favorable for health, has fewer impacts on disease development potentially due to its deposition further away from central organs, and where it can contribute to thermoregulation.
Changing phenotype of inflammatory bowel disease and neglected metabolic health
Published in Cogent Medicine, 2021
BMI is still the most widely available anthropometric measurement recorded as a marker of nutritional status, likely due to ease of use in clinical practice to measure and monitor changes in weight Dong et al., 2015, Nuttall, 2015. BMI classifies subjects into underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal weight (18.5–24.9 kg/m2), overweight (25–29.9 kg/m2) and obese (>30 kg/m2) categories. It is predictive of nutritional status in IBD, particularly amongst malnourished patients Mijac et al., 2010, and a higher BMI is associated with several pathologies including cancers, arthritis, obstructive sleep apnoea, biliary pathology and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) Dong et al., 2015. However, BMI interpretation is limited as it is a poor indicator of body fat percentage and is unable to discriminate between visceral and subcutaneous fat stores Nuttall, 2015. Visceral fat has an increased risk of cardio-metabolic disease compared with subcutaneous fat Sato et al., 2018, Swanson et al., 2018. At every clinic appointment, BMI is calculated for each patient by measuring current weight and height.
Waist circumference and hip circumference as potential predictors of visceral fat estimate among type 2 diabetic patients at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Kumasi-Ghana
Published in Alexandria Journal of Medicine, 2019
Benjamin Ackon Eghan, Francis Agyemang-Yeboah, Eliezer Togbe, Max Efui Annani-Akollor, Sampson Donkor, Bright Oppong Afranie
Several studies have showed that BMI independently contribute to the prediction of visceral fat [46–49]. However, our finding is contrary to these studies. The association of BMI and visceral fat in the current study was weak (r = 0.347, p ˂ 0.001), and the accuracy (AUC = 0.671, p ˂ 0.001) to predict visceral fat levels at cutoff > 27.1 kg/m2 was not good enough (Table 4, Figure 1(c)). The disparity could be due to differences in study population and study site setting. The strongest association observed in the current study was between visceral fat and waist circumference (r = 0.631, p ˂ 0.001). There were low to moderate associations of visceral fat and triceps skinfold, and hip circumference (Table 3). The association between visceral fat and hip circumference was fairly good (r = 0.536, p ˂ 0.001), and the relative ability to correctly identify diabetic patients with high visceral fat levels was high (AUC = 0.786, p ˂ 0.001), although that of waist circumference was better (Figure 1(a,b)). This implies that hip circumference and waist circumference may be potential predictors of visceral fat levels and cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients [50,51].
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