American Journal of Sports Science

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Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults

Received: 26 June 2019    Accepted: 04 August 2019    Published: 23 August 2019
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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age, ethnicity, and sex on the body fat percentage (BF%) threshold, the point above which visceral adipose tissue (VAT) increases more rapidly. Participants were 1,756 females and 1,455 males, 18-75 years of age, who had a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan. Using segmented linear regression models for each sex and ethnicity category, the BF% thresholds were identified. The BF% thresholds for females were: Asian 29.2%, Black 35.6%, Hispanic 31.7%, and White 34.2%. For males, they were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.9%, Hispanic 24.3%, and White 22.8%. Post-threshold, the impact of BF% was amplified for older females (β = 0.28, SE =0.03, p < .001) and males (β = 0.81, SE = 0.06, p < .001). BF% had a weaker association with VAT mass for Black compared to White females (β = -3.05, SE = 1.44, p < .05) and Asian compared to White males (β = -11.40, SE = 2.30, p < .001). The BF% threshold was higher in females and varied more with ethnicity in females. Post-threshold the association of BF% with VAT differed by age and ethnicity, although the influence of ethnicity was different in females than males.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15
Published in American Journal of Sports Science (Volume 7, Issue 3, September 2019)
Page(s) 111-120
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Abdominal Obesity, Adiposity, DXA, Obesity

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Author Information
  • Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

  • Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

  • Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, USA

  • Bariatric Surgery Program, Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, USA; Department of Biobehavioral Sciences, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

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  • APA Style

    Rachel Marie Watson, Philip Ray Stanforth, Anna Elizabeth Talley, Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen. (2019). Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults. American Journal of Sports Science, 7(3), 111-120. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15

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    ACS Style

    Rachel Marie Watson; Philip Ray Stanforth; Anna Elizabeth Talley; Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen. Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults. Am. J. Sports Sci. 2019, 7(3), 111-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15

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    AMA Style

    Rachel Marie Watson, Philip Ray Stanforth, Anna Elizabeth Talley, Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen. Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults. Am J Sports Sci. 2019;7(3):111-120. doi: 10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15,
      author = {Rachel Marie Watson and Philip Ray Stanforth and Anna Elizabeth Talley and Matthew Alan Stults-Kolehmainen},
      title = {Influence of Age, Ethnicity and Sex on Body Composition Thresholds for the Accumulation of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Adults},
      journal = {American Journal of Sports Science},
      volume = {7},
      number = {3},
      pages = {111-120},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajss.20190703.15},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajss.20190703.15},
      abstract = {The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age, ethnicity, and sex on the body fat percentage (BF%) threshold, the point above which visceral adipose tissue (VAT) increases more rapidly. Participants were 1,756 females and 1,455 males, 18-75 years of age, who had a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan. Using segmented linear regression models for each sex and ethnicity category, the BF% thresholds were identified. The BF% thresholds for females were: Asian 29.2%, Black 35.6%, Hispanic 31.7%, and White 34.2%. For males, they were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.9%, Hispanic 24.3%, and White 22.8%. Post-threshold, the impact of BF% was amplified for older females (β = 0.28, SE =0.03, p p p p < .001). The BF% threshold was higher in females and varied more with ethnicity in females. Post-threshold the association of BF% with VAT differed by age and ethnicity, although the influence of ethnicity was different in females than males.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    AU  - Rachel Marie Watson
    AU  - Philip Ray Stanforth
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    AB  - The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of age, ethnicity, and sex on the body fat percentage (BF%) threshold, the point above which visceral adipose tissue (VAT) increases more rapidly. Participants were 1,756 females and 1,455 males, 18-75 years of age, who had a dual X-ray absorptiometry scan. Using segmented linear regression models for each sex and ethnicity category, the BF% thresholds were identified. The BF% thresholds for females were: Asian 29.2%, Black 35.6%, Hispanic 31.7%, and White 34.2%. For males, they were: Asian 25.3%, Black 23.9%, Hispanic 24.3%, and White 22.8%. Post-threshold, the impact of BF% was amplified for older females (β = 0.28, SE =0.03, p p p p < .001). The BF% threshold was higher in females and varied more with ethnicity in females. Post-threshold the association of BF% with VAT differed by age and ethnicity, although the influence of ethnicity was different in females than males.
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