Regular Coffee Consumption Is Associated with Lower Regional Adiposity Measured by DXA among US Women

Coffee is among the most popular daily beverages in the United States. Importantly, coffee consumption has been associated with a lower risk of multiple health outcomes including a reduction in adiposity. DXA is a means to assess body fat and distribution.

The aim of this study was to examine the relation between coffee consumption and DXA-assessed adiposity and adiposity distribution.

Cross-sectional data from the NHANES were used. Participants were adults aged 20-69 y from the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 waves. Information on coffee consumption was assessed through the FFQ (categorized as no coffee, 0 to <0.25 cup/d, 0.25 to <1 cup/d, 1 cup/d, 2-3 cups/d, or ≥4 cups/d). Both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee consumption were included. Trunk fat and total fat percentage were measured via whole-body DXA scans. The association between coffee consumption and body fat was investigated using age-adjusted and multivariable-adjusted linear regression models which accounted for sample weights.

Higher coffee consumption was associated with significantly lower total body fat percentage and trunk body fat percentage in a dose-response manner (all P values < 0.05) among women. Although this dose-response relation was nonsignificant among men, men aged 20-44 y who drank 2-3 cups/d had 1.3% (95% CI: -2.7%, 0.1%) less total fat and 1.8% (95% CI: -3.3%, -0.4%) less trunk fat than those who did not consume coffee. Furthermore, the association between coffee consumption and body fat percentage exhibited for both caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee among women (all P for trend < 0.001) but not among men (all P for trend > 0.05).

The present study found a significant association between higher coffee consumption and lower DXA-measured adiposity. Moreover, a gender difference in this association in the general US adult population was also observed.