Body fat distribution and the prognosis for weight reduction: preliminary observations

In a preliminary study the influence of body fat distribution on the degree of weight reduction, blood lipids and blood glucose was investigated in 17 premenopausal obese women (BMI greater than 27 kg/m2), who followed an energy-reduced diet of 4.2 MJ/day for 8 weeks. Body fat distribution was distinguished in an abdominal and gluteal-femoral type using a cut-off point of 0.80 for the ratio of waist-to-hips girth. Mean weight reduction was about 10 kg. Body fat distribution was not related to the ability to lose weight. Body weight reduction was 10.2 +/- 3.3 kg (mean +/- s.d.) in the abdominal obese (n = 8) and 9.6 +/- 2.4 kg in the gluteal-femoral obese women (n = 8). In abdominal obese women, body fat distribution became more intermediate. This change in body fat distribution coincided in the abdominal obese, after weight loss, with greater decreases in blood glucose and serum lipids than in the gluteal-femoral obese.