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Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults

Received: 26 June 2019     Accepted: 4 August 2019     Published: 23 August 2019
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age, ethnicity, and sex on the body fat percentage (BF%) threshold, the point above which visceral adipose tissue (VAT) increases more rapidly. Participants were 1,756 females and 1,455 males, 18-75 years of age, who had a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan. Using segmented linear regression models for each sex and ethnicity category, the BF% thresholds were identified. The BF% thresholds for females were: Asian 29.2%, Black 35.6%, Hispanic 31.7%, and White 34.2%. For males, they were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.9%, Hispanic 24.3%, and White 22.8%. Post-threshold, the impact of BF% was amplified for older females (β = 0.28, SE =0.03, p < .001) and males (β = 0.81, SE = 0.06, p < .001). BF% had a weaker association with VAT mass for Black compared to White females (β = -3.05, SE = 1.44, p < .05) and Asian compared to White males (β = -11.40, SE = 2.30, p < .001). The BF% threshold was higher in females and varied more with ethnicity in females. Post-threshold the association of BF% with VAT differed by age and ethnicity, although the influence of ethnicity was different in females than males.

Published in American Journal of Sports Science (Volume 7, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15
Page(s) 111-120
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2019. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Abdominal Obesity, Adiposity, DXA, Obesity

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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Rachel Marie Watson, Philip Ray Stanforth, Anna Elizabeth Talley, Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen. (2019). Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults. American Journal of Sports Science, 7(3), 111-120. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15

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    ACS Style

    Rachel Marie Watson; Philip Ray Stanforth; Anna Elizabeth Talley; Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen. Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults. Am. J. Sports Sci. 2019, 7(3), 111-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15

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    AMA Style

    Rachel Marie Watson, Philip Ray Stanforth, Anna Elizabeth Talley, Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen. Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults. Am J Sports Sci. 2019;7(3):111-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15,
      author = {Rachel Marie Watson and Philip Ray Stanforth and Anna Elizabeth Talley and Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen},
      title = {Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults},
      journal = {American Journal of Sports Science},
      volume = {7},
      number = {3},
      pages = {111-120},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajss.20190703.15},
      abstract = {The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age, ethnicity, and sex on the body fat percentage (BF%) threshold, the point above which visceral adipose tissue (VAT) increases more rapidly. Participants were 1,756 females and 1,455 males, 18-75 years of age, who had a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan. Using segmented linear regression models for each sex and ethnicity category, the BF% thresholds were identified. The BF% thresholds for females were: Asian 29.2%, Black 35.6%, Hispanic 31.7%, and White 34.2%. For males, they were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.9%, Hispanic 24.3%, and White 22.8%. Post-threshold, the impact of BF% was amplified for older females (β = 0.28, SE =0.03, p p p p < .001). The BF% threshold was higher in females and varied more with ethnicity in females. Post-threshold the association of BF% with VAT differed by age and ethnicity, although the influence of ethnicity was different in females than males.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AU  - Rachel Marie Watson
    AU  - Philip Ray Stanforth
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    AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age, ethnicity, and sex on the body fat percentage (BF%) threshold, the point above which visceral adipose tissue (VAT) increases more rapidly. Participants were 1,756 females and 1,455 males, 18-75 years of age, who had a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan. Using segmented linear regression models for each sex and ethnicity category, the BF% thresholds were identified. The BF% thresholds for females were: Asian 29.2%, Black 35.6%, Hispanic 31.7%, and White 34.2%. For males, they were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.9%, Hispanic 24.3%, and White 22.8%. Post-threshold, the impact of BF% was amplified for older females (β = 0.28, SE =0.03, p p p p < .001). The BF% threshold was higher in females and varied more with ethnicity in females. Post-threshold the association of BF% with VAT differed by age and ethnicity, although the influence of ethnicity was different in females than males.
    VL  - 7
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Author Information
  • Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

  • Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

  • Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

  • Bariatric Surgery Program, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, USA

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