A pilot study in relationship among changes in visceral fat area, waist circumference and body weight in Japanese freshmen students

Abstract

We investigated the relationship among delta (delta represents changes in parameters) visceral fat area, waist circumference and body weight in Japanese freshmen students. Visceral fat was measured at the umbilical level using computerized tomography scanning at baseline study and 6 months later. Body weight and height, as well as waist circumference were also measured. We found that visceral fat area, waist circumference, and body weight significantly correlated with each other at baseline, and 6 months later, delta visceral fat area and changes in % visceral fat area significantly correlated with delta waist circumference and delta body weight in female and in total subjects. In addition, based on the predictive linear equations from the regression analysis, we found that 1kg of delta body weight corresponded to 0.83 cm of delta waist circumference, and 1kg of delta body weight and 1cm of delta waist circumference corresponded to 9.41% and 7.80% of changes in visceral fat area, respectively, in total subjects. The present results suggest that delta visceral fat area is closely related to delta body weight and delta waist circumference in Japanese freshmen students.