Prevalence and clinical characteristics of metabolically healthy obese individuals and other obese/non-obese metabolic phenotypes in a working population: results from the Icaria study

Abstract

BackgroundMetabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotype may present with distinct characteristics compared with those with a metabolically unhealthy obese phenotype. Epidemiologic data on the distribution of these conditions in the working population are lacking. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of MHO and other obese/non-obese metabolic phenotypes in a working population.MethodsCross-sectional analysis of all subjects who had undergone a medical examination with Ibermutuamur Prevention Society from May 2004 to December 2007. Participants were classified into 5 categories according to their body mass index (BMI); within each of these categories, participants were further classified as metabolically healthy (MH) or metabolically unhealthy (MUH) according to the modified NCEP-ATPIII criteria. A logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate some clinically relevant factors associated with a MH status.ResultsIn the overall population, the prevalence of the MHO phenotype was 8.6 %. The proportions of MH individuals in the overweight and obese categories were: 87.1 % (overweight) and 55.5 % (obese I-III [58.8, 40.0, and 38.7 % of the obese I, II, and III categories, respectively]). When the overweight and obese categories were considered, compared with individuals who were MUH, those who were MH tended to be younger and more likely to be female or participate in physical exercise; they were also less likely to smoke, or to be a heavy drinker. In the underweight and normal weight categories, compared with individuals who were MH, those who were MUH were more likely to be older, male, manual (blue collar) workers, smokers and heavy drinkers. Among participants in the MUH, normal weight group, the proportion of individuals with a sedentary lifestyle was higher relative to those in the MH, normal weight group. The factors more strongly associated with the MUH phenotype were BMI and age, followed by the presence of hypercholesterolemia, male sex, being a smoker, being a heavy drinker, and lack of physical exercise.ConclusionsThe prevalence of individuals with a MHO phenotype in the working population is high. This population may constitute an appropriate target group in whom to implement lifestyle modification initiatives to reduce the likelihood of transition to a MUH phenotype.

Metabolic Phenotyping Using Metabolic Syndrome Criteria and Cardiometabolic Disabilities Criteria in Bangladeshi Adult Population

“…Frequency of MOOW followed by MUO were found to be predominant in our study subjects after categorization by both criteria. Our study showed frequency of MOOW and MUO to be 27.7% and 23.9% according to MetS criteria whereas, 37.4% and 25.6% according to CA criteria respectively and study also showed very low percentage of MONW or MHO which agree with many other studies [6][7][8] . combined MetS and HOMA-IR criteria may be due to fact that they used different clinical profile 14,15 .…”

“…MO may be defined as individuals with unhealthy metabolic profile irrespective of BMI. Some researchers used components of metabolic syndrome (MetS) (waist circumference, TG, HDL-C, FBS, BP) to classify metabolically healthy and metabolically unhealthy phenotypes in different BMI group (normal weight, overweight, obese) 6,7 . Individual having 3 components abnormal is regarded as metabolically unhealthy and individual having 0-2 components abnormal regarded as metabolically healthy.…”

Association of major dietary patterns and different metabolic phenotypes: a population-based study of northwestern Iran

“…Considering the results, the prevalence of MHL, MUHL, MHO, and MUHO was 26.78, 3.37, 40.47, and 29.36% respectively; implying that more than half of the obese population in the present study was metabolically healthy. There is a discrepancy between the prevalence of cardiometabolic phenotypes in different populations [17][18][19][20][21] that may be due to the differences in metabolic phenotype definition in different studies and also differences in dietary and lifestyle habits. Consistent with the results of other studies [19], there was a significant difference in mean BMI and waist circumference between metabolically unhealthy and healthy individuals.…”

Role of dysfunctional adipocytes in cholesterol-induced nonobese metabolic syndrome

“…Recent studies and our previous study have shown that dietary cholesterol promotes macrophage accumulation and inflammation in visceral adipose tissue, independent of body weight gain (Deng et al 2008, Subramanian & Chait 2009, Pajunen et al 2011, Chung et al 2014. Moreover, the occurrence of hypercholesterolemia in underweight and normal-weight unhealthy individuals suggests that the cholesterol level is a crucial factor that distinguishes metabolically healthy and unhealthy conditions (Goday et al 2016). Therefore, animals that are fed a cholesterol-rich diet provide an appropriate animal model for the molecular study of NMS.…”