Association of menopausal status with body composition and anthropometric indices in Korean women

Menopause induces various health problems and is associated with obesity, but the association between menopausal status and obesity is unclear due to several confounding factors, such as aging and reduced physical activity. The objective of this study was to examine the association of menopausal status with anthropometric indices and body composition indices in South Korean women.

In this cross-sectional study, a total of 734 subjects (297 postmenopausal women, 437 premenopausal women) from five university hospitals in South Korea were included. A binary logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association of menopause with anthropometric indices and body composition indices.

Height, body mass index, waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio, and neck, armpit, chest, rib, waist, iliac, and hip circumferences were associated with menopausal status in the crude analysis, but these associations disappeared in the adjusted models. Among the body composition indices, menopausal status was strongly associated with total body water, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, and body fat percentage in the crude analysis. However, the associations with body fat mass and body fat percentage disappeared in the adjusted models. Only the associations with total body water and skeletal muscle mass remained in the adjusted models.

Most of the anthropometric indices and body composition indices were not associated with menopausal status, but total body water and skeletal muscle mass were significantly lower in postmenopausal women than in premenopausal women.