Weight loss and body fat distribution: a feasibility study using computed tomography

Computerized tomography (CT) was used to assess the effect of a loss of body weight (18.8 kg) on the size of five fat depots in 11 obese postmenopausal women: the abdominal subcutaneous and visceral depots, the pelvic subcutaneous and intrapelvic depots, and the thigh subcutaneous depot. The mean decrease in total body fat was 34 percent, with comparable decreases in total abdominal fat (33 percent) and total pelvic fat (32 percent). In the abdomen, visceral fat was reduced by 35 percent and subcutaneous fat by 33 percent. In the pelvic region, intrapelvic fat decreased by 51 percent and subcutaneous fat by 25 percent. The decrease in the size of the abdominal visceral fat depot was highly correlated with fat loss during treatment (r = 0.68). By contrast, the decrease in the size of the subcutaneous abdominal fat depot correlated less highly with fat loss. These preliminary findings suggest that obese postmenopausal women with large visceral fat depots will decrease the size of their visceral fat depots by weight reduction. This is good news since the adverse health effects of obesity are believed to be associated with visceral fat.