2004 Volume 53 Issue 3 Pages 311-319
The purpose of this study was to determine the loss of visceral fat during weight loss program with diet only or diet plus exercise in premenopausal obese women (age 44±6 yr) . One hundred seventeen women (body mass index 29±3 kg /m2) were divided into diet only group (DO, n=40) and diet plus exercise group (DE, n=77) . DE was further divided into two groups: a group with a small change in VO2max (DE1, n=26) and a group with a large change in VO2max (DE2, n=51) . Height, weight, fat mass, %fat, fat-free mass (FFM), abdominal total fat area (TFA), visceral fat area (VFA), subcutaneous fat area (SFA) and VO2max (ml/kg FFM/min) were measured before and after weight loss. The changes of weight, fat mass, %fat were significantly larger in DE than in DO. No difference was found in the changes of weight, fat mass, %fat between the DE1 and DE2. Percentage of change in VFA was significantly larger in DE2 (41±15%) than in DE1 (31±16%) . These data suggest that both weight-loss programs (DO and DE) contribute to a remarkable decrease in visceral fat. Addition of exercise training, which would induce an improvement in VO2max, to dietary restriction, may elicit a greater effect on visceral fat.
