2008 Volume 54 Issue 2 Pages 208-213
In the field of occupational health, health guidance concerning obesity is often conducted in order to prevent lifestyle-related diseases. With recent awareness of the concept of metabolic syndrome, measurement of the visceral fat area (VFA) by CT has been useful for health guidance, but it is difficult in workplace health screening. Presently, the BMI (Body Mass Index), body fat percentage measured by the bioelectrical impedance method, and waist girth at the umbilical level (abdominal girth) are practical indices of obesity used in such health screening. In this study, VAF was measured in 590 clerical or sales workers in the manufacturing industry using a body fat meter capable of a visceral fat measurement by the bioelectrical impedance method. The relationship of this value to the results of biochemical tests and lifestyle was then evaluated using analysis of covariance structures. Analysis indicated that the risk of lifestyle-related disease was closely related to the degree of obesity. Among indices of the degree of obesity, VFA was more closely related than BMI or body fat percentage, and only slightly less closely related than abdominal girth to the risk of lifestyle-related diseases. Since VFA is effective in screening for latent obesity, health guidance based on digital data, and the subjects' body imaging, its measurement by the bioelectrical impedance method is considered useful for workplace health management.
