Adiposity and Cardiometabolic Health Among Inuit of Nunavik: A 13-Year Follow-Up Study

Obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 30 kg/m²) is a major determinant of cardiometabolic health, yet the clinical impact of weight changes on cardiometabolic health in the Canadian Inuit population remains unclear.

Data were collected from 302 individuals (107 men and 195 women) who participated in the Qanuippitaa? 2004 and Qanuilirpitaa? 2017 Nunavik Inuit health surveys. Anthropometric indices (weight, BMI, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio, percentage of body fat, and fat-freemass), metabolic biomarkers, and hemodynamics were measured. Anthropometric characteristics and cardiometabolic risk factors were compared between 2017 and 2004 using Student paired t tests or the χ² test, adjusted for medication. The impact of adiposity changes on cardiometabolic risk factors (blood pressure, lipid profile, and glucose homeostasis parameters) was assessed using adjusted multivariate linear regression analysis.

Inuit men and women (mean baseline age: 37.1 and 36.4 years) showed a significant increase in age-standardized percentage of body fat, despite having similar BMI in 2004 and 2017. Inuit women had significant rises in age-standardized waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio (P < 0.05), whereas men's remained stable. Increased abdominal fat was linked to adverse changes in some lipid (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], total cholesterol/HDL-C ratio, apolipoprotein B) and glucose homeostasis (Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance) parameters (P < 0.05), but not low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, non-HDL-C, fasting glucose, or blood pressure.

Adiposity phenotypes and cardiometabolic risk factors are evolving among Nunavik Inuit, but increased abdominal fat is not linked to certain lipid parameters, fasting glucose, or blood pressure. Further research is needed to understand ethnicity-specific traits and improve management of weight-related complications.