Abstract
Objective: It is unclear which factors related to lifestyle are attributable to visceral and subcutaneous fat. In this study, we comprehensively assessed the individual health profiles including dietary habits, personal characters and behavior, and we investigated the relationship between these factors and visceral/subcutaneous fat area. Subjects and Methods: We measured visceral and subcutaneous fat areas by CT scan, and assessed 120parameters including those examined in a medical check-up, plasma adiponectin, dietary habits, and a lifestyle questionnaire in 281 men aged 30-79. The subjects whose visceral or subcutaneous fat area was beyond the range of mean± SD were selected for comparisons between the groups with higher and lower visceral/subcutaneous fat area. Results: Several lifestyle related factors are significantly different between the two groups with different visceral and/or subcutaneous fat area. Visceral obesity was associated with a consciousness of stress and disordered food habits such as eating late at night and urge for satiety. Subcutaneous obesity was associated with daily physical inactivity and unbalanced energy intake. The predisposition to both visceral /subcutaneous fat was associated with a westernized lifestyle such as preferences for foods rich in fat and strong tastes. The plasma adiponectin was more strongly associated with visceral fat than subcutaneous fat. The body weight, body mass index, body fat ratio and waist circumference were more strongly associated with subcutaneous fat area than visceral fat area. Conclusion: These results suggest that lifestyle related factors should be fully considered to effectively control different types of “obesity”.
