Age- and Gender-related Differences in Correlations between Abdominal Obesity and Obesity-related Metabolic Risk Factors in Japanese

Abstract

Background There have been conflicting data regarding the relationship between obesity and coronary heart disease (CHD) in Japan. Obesity was reported to be a risk factor of CHD in young and middle-aged males, but not in females or older males. The age- and gender-related differences in the correlations between obesity and obesity-related metabolic risk factors might contribute to these conflicting data.
Methods Medical check-up data from 1,360 men and 821 women were divided into younger (= or < 51-year-old) and older (> 51-year-old) groups according to the median age and Spearman's correlation coefficients between waist circumference (WC) and obesity-related metabolic risk factors were calculated.
Results The correlation coefficients between WC and triglyceride and between WC and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were significantly stronger in younger men than in older men. There was no statistically significant difference in correlation coefficients between younger and older women. The correlation coefficients between WC and triglyceride, WC and HDL cholesterol, WC and hs-CRP, WC and gamma glutamyltransferase, and WC and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were significantly stronger in younger men than in younger women. The correlation coefficient between WC and ALT was significantly stronger in older men than in older women. And the correlations between WC and SBP, WC and DBP, and WC and GGT tended to be stronger in younger men than in older men.
Conclusion The correlations between abdominal obesity and obesity-related metabolic risk factors were stronger in younger men than in older men and women among Japanese.