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Measurement of central fat in prepubertal children: MRI, DXA and waist circumference
Author(s) -
He Qing,
Ramirez Alexander,
Gidwani Sonia,
Heymsfield Steven,
Heshka Stanley,
Gallagher Dympna
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a689-c
Subject(s) - waist , medicine , trunk , circumference , magnetic resonance imaging , obesity , body mass index , dual energy x ray absorptiometry , classification of obesity , adipose tissue , body fat percentage , intra abdominal fat , fat mass , radiology , visceral fat , bone mineral , biology , mathematics , insulin resistance , geometry , ecology , osteoporosis
Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is positively associated with major metabolic disorders. In obesity, measuring VAT is an important phenotypic measurement and while magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an accepted reference method, it is of limited applicability due to cost and availability. In adults, waist circumference (WC) serves as a central fat index and is recognized as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease development. Whether WC or dual energy X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA) derived measures can serve as indices of central fat in children is unclear. We compared DXA measures of central fat (android fat or trunk fat) and WC with MRI measures of VAT (MRI‐VAT) in a multi‐ethnic sample. Included were 63 (22 girls, 41 boys) prepubertal healthy children (5–11 years with body mass index 13.6 to 28.7 kg/m 2 ), self‐identified as black, white, Asian or Hispanic. WC, DXA‐android fat, and DXA‐trunk fat were all correlated with MRI‐VAT (p<0.01) with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.66, 0.86 and 0.86, respectively. The relationships between WC, DXA‐android fat, DXA‐trunk fat, and MRI‐VAT were assessed using multiple regression analysis covarying for sex, race, weight, height, and interactions. WC accounted for 54%, DXA‐android fat for 75%, and DXA‐trunk fat for 86% of the variation in MRI‐VAT, independent of sex, weight and height. Ethnicity should be considered when using DXA‐trunk fat to predict MRI‐VAT. The findings suggest DXA could be used as a substitute for MRI in the assessment of VAT in pre‐pubertal children.