Abstract
Masked obesity is the presence of obesity based on percent body fat (%BF) when the body mass index (BMI) shows an absence of obesity. To examine the relationship between masked obesity and arteriosclerosis risk factors, we compared both serum lipid levels and the prevalence of hyperlipidemia in male and female high school freshmen with and without masked obesity. Subjects consisted of 403 male and 326 female high school students aged 15∼16 years. Of these, 34(8.4%) males and 36(11.0%) females had masked obesity, defined as 17≤BMI<23.60 and %BF≥25% in males, and 17≤BMI<24.17 and %BF≥30% in females, while the remaining 300 males and 246 females were not obese, having 17≤BMI<23.60 and %BF<25% and 17≤BMI<24.17 and %BF<30%, respectively. For both sexes, serum total-cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC), triglycerides and the arteriosclerotic index (AI) were significantly higher (p<0.05∼0.01) in those with masked obesity. And many of the subjects with masked obesity had abnormal levels of TC, LDLC and AI, compared with those who were not obese (p<0.05∼0.01). Additionally, we compared both serum lipid levels and the prevalence of hyperlipidemia between subjects with masked obesity and control groups with the same BMI values. As a result, subjects with masked obesity had high serum lipid levels and a prevalence of hyperlipidemia. These results support the existence of masked obesity and suggest that masked obesity is associated with increased serum lipid levels, and thus could be a risk factor for arteriosclerosis in male and female high school freshmen.
