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Body fat distribution in relation to smoking and exogenous hormones in British women
Author(s) -
Kwok See,
Canoy Dexter,
Soran Handrean,
Ashton David W.,
Lowe Gordon D. O.,
Wood David,
Humphries Stephen E.,
Durrington Paul N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
clinical endocrinology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 147
eISSN - 1365-2265
pISSN - 0300-0664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2012.04331.x
Subject(s) - endocrinology , medicine , hormone , body fat distribution , distribution (mathematics) , adipose tissue , mathematical analysis , mathematics
Summary Objective Both cigarette smoking and use of exogenous hormones are associated with changes in regional distribution of body fat, but their combined effects are less investigated. We examined the interrelation between smoking, exogenous hormones and fat distribution in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Method We used data from 20 962 women without known cardiovascular disease (CVD) who were employees of a major department store in Britain. They completed a health questionnaire and attended a clinical examination that included waist and hip circumference measurements. The cross‐sectional analyses were conducted using linear regression models. Results Cigarette smoking, particularly smoking ≥20 cigarettes/day, was associated with larger waist circumference and higher waist/hip ratio (WHR) in pre‐ and postmenopausal women after adjusting for potential confounding factors (all P < 0·001). Premenopausal women using combined oral contraceptive (COC) and postmenopausal women using oestrogen‐only hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had lower WHR than non‐hormone users in both smokers and nonsmokers. However, smokers had higher WHR than nonsmokers in both groups of hormone users and nonusers. There was no significant interaction between smoking and hormone use in premenopausal and postmenopausal women ( P > 0·05). Conclusion Although exogenous hormones use was related to a more favourable fat distribution in women, smoking was associated with greater abdominal fat accumulation.