American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 64, 833-839, Copyright © 1996 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Differences in body composition of black and white girls

JA Yanovski, SZ Yanovski, KM Filmer, VS Hubbard, N Avila, B Lewis, JC Reynolds and M Flood
Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-1862, USA. jy15i@nih.gov

Adults have racial differences in body composition that may modulate risks resulting from obesity. Although black and white children have been shown previously to have differences in bone mineral density and subcutaneous body fat, differences in visceral adipose tissue have not been evaluated. We studied 20 black and 20 white normal-weight girls aged 7-10 y, who were matched for weight, body mass index (BMI), bone age, chronological age, Tanner breast stage, and socioeconomic status. Each underwent anthropometric measurements, bioelectrical impedance analysis, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), and abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for determination of total (TAT), visceral (VAT), and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissue. Serum lipids and fasting and 2-h oral-glucose-tolerance test (OGTT) glucose and insulin concentrations were also measured. There were no differences between groups in absolute waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio, but waist- to-thigh ratio was smaller in black than in white girls. Black girls had greater bone mineral density and less TAT, VAT, and SAT than whites. VAT was not significantly correlated with any measure of insulin, or with serum lipids. However, both basal and 2-h OGTT serum insulin were significantly correlated with SAT as assessed by MRI in black girls (r2 = 0.46 for basal insulin, P = 0.001: r2 = 0.31 for 2-h insulin, P = 0.01) but not in white girls (r2 < 0.05, for basal and 2-h insulin, NS). We conclude that there are significant racial differences in body composition and differences in the strength of association between abdominal adipose tissue depots and insulin sensitivity in black and white girls.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Misra, M. A. Bredella, P. Tsai, N. Mendes, K. K. Miller, and A. Klibanski Lower growth hormone and higher cortisol are associated with greater visceral adiposity, intramyocellular lipids, and insulin resistance in overweight girls Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, August 1, 2008; 295(2): E385 - E392. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. E. Taksali, S. Caprio, J. Dziura, S. Dufour, A. M.G. Cali, T. R. Goodman, X. Papademetris, T. S. Burgert, B. M. Pierpont, M. Savoye, et al. High Visceral and Low Abdominal Subcutaneous Fat Stores in the Obese Adolescent: A Determinant of an Adverse Metabolic Phenotype Diabetes, February 1, 2008; 57(2): 367 - 371. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. L Burdette, R. C Whitaker, W. C Hall, and S. R Daniels Breastfeeding, introduction of complementary foods, and adiposity at 5 y of age Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, March 1, 2006; 83(3): 550 - 558. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Snijder, R. van Dam, M Visser, and J. Seidell What aspects of body fat are particularly hazardous and how do we measure them? Int. J. Epidemiol., February 1, 2006; 35(1): 83 - 92. [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Feng, S. F. Young, G. Aguilera, E. Puricelli, D. C. Adler-Wailes, N. G. Sebring, and J. A. Yanovski Co-occurrence of Two Partially Inactivating Polymorphisms of MC3R Is Associated With Pediatric-Onset Obesity Diabetes, September 1, 2005; 54(9): 2663 - 2667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. D. Veldhuis, J. N. Roemmich, E. J. Richmond, A. D. Rogol, J. C. Lovejoy, M. Sheffield-Moore, N. Mauras, and C. Y. Bowers Endocrine Control of Body Composition in Infancy, Childhood, and Puberty Endocr. Rev., February 1, 2005; 26(1): 114 - 146. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Shen, M. Punyanitya, Z. Wang, D. Gallagher, M.-P. St-Onge, J. Albu, S. B Heymsfield, and S. Heshka Visceral adipose tissue: relations between single-slice areas and total volume Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, August 1, 2004; 80(2): 271 - 278. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R McDuffie, D. C Adler-Wailes, J. Elberg, E. N Steinberg, E. M Fallon, A. M Tershakovec, S. A Arslanian, J. P Delany, G. A Bray, and J. A Yanovski Prediction equations for resting energy expenditure in overweight and normal-weight black and white children Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, August 1, 2004; 80(2): 365 - 373. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Weiss, J. Dziura, T. S. Burgert, W. V. Tamborlane, S. E. Taksali, C. W. Yeckel, K. Allen, M. Lopes, M. Savoye, J. Morrison, et al. Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome in Children and Adolescents N. Engl. J. Med., June 3, 2004; 350(23): 2362 - 2374. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Jones Jr, W. Shen, M.-P. St-Onge, D. Gallagher, S. Heshka, Z. Wang, and S. B Heymsfield Body-composition differences between African American and white women: relation to resting energy requirements Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, May 1, 2004; 79(5): 780 - 786. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				F. Bacha, R. Saad, N. Gungor, J. Janosky, and S. A. Arslanian Obesity, Regional Fat Distribution, and Syndrome X in Obese Black Versus White Adolescents: Race Differential in Diabetogenic and Atherogenic Risk Factors J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., June 1, 2003; 88(6): 2534 - 2540. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. W Wong, A. C Hergenroeder, J. E Stuff, N. F Butte, E O'B. Smith, and K. J Ellis Evaluating body fat in girls and female adolescents: advantages and disadvantages of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, August 1, 2002; 76(2): 384 - 389. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. I. Uwaifo, S. J. Parikh, M. Keil, J. Elberg, J. Chin, and J. A. Yanovski Comparison of Insulin Sensitivity, Clearance, and Secretion Estimates Using Euglycemic and Hyperglycemic Clamps in Children J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., June 1, 2002; 87(6): 2899 - 2905. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Q. He, M. Horlick, J. Thornton, J. Wang, R. N. Pierson Jr., S. Heshka, and D. Gallagher Sex and Race Differences in Fat Distribution among Asian, African-American, and Caucasian Prepubertal Children J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., May 1, 2002; 87(5): 2164 - 2170. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Horlick Body Mass Index in Childhood-- Measuring a Moving Target J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., September 1, 2001; 86(9): 4059 - 4060. [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. J. Ellis Human Body Composition: In Vivo Methods Physiol Rev, April 1, 2000; 80(2): 649 - 680. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. H Dietz and M. C Bellizzi Introduction: the use of body mass index to assess obesity in children Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, July 1, 1999; 70 (1): 123S - 125S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. I Goran and B. A Gower Relation between visceral fat and disease risk in children and adolescents Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, July 1, 1999; 70 (1): 149S - 156S. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. O Hill, S. Sidney, C. E Lewis, K. Tolan, A. L Scherzinger, and E. R Stamm Racial differences in amounts of visceral adipose tissue in young adults: the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) Study Am. J. Clinical Nutrition, March 1, 1999; 69(3): 381 - 387. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. H. Epstein, M. D. Myers, H. A. Raynor, and B. E. Saelens Treatment of Pediatric Obesity Pediatrics, March 1, 1998; 101(3): 554 - 570. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A R P Walker and I Segal Determining precise role of ethnicity in disease will be difficult BMJ, November 15, 1997; 315(7118): 1309 - 1309. [Full Text]