Impact of Obesity and Body Fat Distribution on Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Hong Kong Chinese

Abstract

(WC) and BMI], surrogate measures of insulin resistance (fasting plasma glucose and insulin, oral glucose tolerance test, 2 hours glucose and insulin), fasting lipids (total, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, and triglycerides) and systolic and diastolic blood pressure were measured. General obesity was classified as BMI Ն25.0 kg/m 2 and central obesity as a WC Ն80 or Ն90 cm in women and men, respectively. Results: A total of 39.2% of the population was found to be obese. Obesity per se increased the levels of the risk factors, but central adiposity contributed to a greater extent to adverse high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglyceride, and insulin resistance levels. There was a continuous relationship between increasing obesity, both general and central, and cardiovascular risk, with lowest risk associated with the lowest indices of obesity. In the 1759 nonobese subjects divided into quartiles of BMI or WC, the levels of the cardiovascular risk factors still significantly increased with increasing quartiles of adiposity. Discussion: Central adiposity appears to contribute to a greater extent than general adiposity to the development of cardiovascular risk in this population. The relationship between obesity parameters and risk is a continuum, with risk factors significantly increasing even at levels usually considered nonobese. These observations support the proposed redefinition of overweight and obesity in Asian populations using lower cut-off points.

Association between sleeping hours, working hours and obesity in Hong Kong Chinese: the ‘better health for better Hong Kong’ health promotion campaign

“…1,3 The prevalence of obesity in Hong Kong (defined by BMI X25 kg/m 2 ) is approximately 30% based on two local surveys conducted in the mid 1990s. 14,18 This figure is comparable to that reported in the US (obesity defined by BMI X30 kg/m 2 ). 14 Westernization or urbanization changes such as inadequate physical activity, unhealthy diet and stressful lifestyle have been identified to be culprits for the surge of obesity prevalence in the past decades.…”

Body mass index classification misses subjects with increased cardiometabolic risk factors related to elevated adiposity

“…52 Furthermore, our data provide scientific explanation to the finding that body composition may help to understand the cardiovascular risk in 'normal-weight' subjects with high adiposity. 29,53,54 The few studies analyzing the influence of BF% on cardiometabolic risk factor levels have been predominantly aimed to compare the influence of body fat distribution than to analyze the effect of increased adiposity itself 32,47,55,56 or have been performed in volunteers with BMI values within Relevance of body fat for metabolic risk J Gómez-Ambrosi et al the lean range. 20 In this sense, BF% shows lower, 56 similar, 47 or higher 57 correlation with metabolic risk factors than central adiposity measures, but has been recently suggested as a better indicator of coronary heart disease risk than waist circumference.…”

Hypoadiponectinemia in Obesity: Association with Insulin Resistance

“…Obesity is commonly associated with insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia and is often associated with high blood pressure and various metabolic abnormalities, such as dyslipidemia and elevated plasma glucose [1].…”