Risk for metabolic syndrome in the population with visceral fat area measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis

Abstract

Background/Aims: To investigate whether visceral fat area (VFA) measured by bioelectric impedance analysis (BIA) was associated with metabolic syndrome in subjects with and without obesity. Methods: A total 23,202 participants who underwent medical checkups were assessed. Participants were stratified by body mass index (BMI) and VFA. We evaluated six different groups for metabolic syndrome: Group 1 (normal weight and low VFA), Group 2 (normal weight and high VFA), Group 3 (overweight and low VFA), Group 4 (overweight and high VFA), Group 5 (obesity and low VFA), and Group 6 (obesity and high VFA). Results: Metabolic syndrome traits and metabolic syndrome were significantly more prevalent in the high-VFA (≥ 100 cm 2) subgroup in each BMI group. Adjusted logistic regression analyses revealed that the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome compared with Group 1 was the highest in Group 6 (24.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 21.77 to 27.64). Notably, the odds ratio of Group 2 was higher than that of Group 3 (2.92; 95% CI, 2.30 to 3.69 vs. 2.57; 95% CI, 2.23 to 2.97). Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the combination of BMI assessment and VFA determination by BIA may be a useful method for predicting the risk of metabolic syndrome. The VFA by BIA may be a useful target for interventions to improve metabolic syndrome.

Association of obesity, visceral adiposity, and sarcopenia with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome: A retrospective study

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study showing that unfavorable body composition parameters (obesity, visceral adiposity, and sarcopenia) additively increase the risk for MS. Previous studies have shown that visceral adiposity [ 7 – 11 ], sarcopenia [ 30 – 32 ], and obesity [ 20 – 23 ] were associated with an increased risk for MS. However, most of these studies analyzed the association of only a single body composition parameter with MS; studies analyzing the association between multiple body composition parameters and MS have been rare [ 43 , 45 ].…”

“…Cross-sectional CT images of the lumbar skeletal muscle have provided good estimates of the total body skeletal muscle [ 71 , 72 ]. However, the recent use of CT for measuring body fat or muscle has been limited due to an increased risk for radiation exposure [ 11 ]. In our current study, BIA was used to measure ASM and VFA because BIA has been widely used owing to its accessibility, safety, and cost-efficiency [ 10 , 45 , 73 , 74 ].…”

“…However, the study size was relatively small in most of the earlier studies (N<1,500) [ 8 , 10 , 13 , 31 , 45 ]. Jeon et al analyzed the risk for MS according to BIA-measured VFA; the study size was large, but skeletal muscle mass was not addressed [ 11 ]. The strength of our study is that we analyzed multiple body composition parameters, including VFA and ASM, in a large and healthy population.…”

“…VFA was measured using Inbody 720 and used to assess visceral adiposity. Subjects with VFA ≥100 cm 2 were placed in the visceral adiposity group [ 11 , 43 , 49 ]. Subjects with VFA <100 cm 2 were placed in the group without visceral adiposity.…”

“…Another limitation of WC measurement is its poor reproducibility [ 19 ]. Recent studies that measured visceral adiposity using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) showed that visceral adiposity is associated with MS [ 8 , 10 , 11 , 13 ]. BIA can measure body fat and muscle mass easily and is cost-effective; thus, BIA is widely used.…”