[Transverse study of obesity: distribution of adipose tissue and correlated pathology]

The relationship between obesity and prevalence of dyslipidemia is well known. Recent studies affirm that differences in fat distribution can be predictive for differences in the prevalence of metabolic disturbances and cardiovascular disease independently of the BMI, presently the most common index of obesity. In order to verify whether body fat distribution can be associated with a higher risk of atherosclerosis, we have evaluated in a group of obese women the eventual presence of endocrine and metabolic diseases. Assessing regional fat distribution, the waist/hip ratio has been shown to be more closely correlated with these diseases than BMI. We have studied two groups of 10 women, comparable for age and BMI: group A aged 45.8 +/- 6.9 years with a BMI of 35.6 +/- 2.8 kg/m2; group B aged 48.3 +/- 3.6 years with a BMI of 38.5 +/- 2.8 kg/m2. The women were divided according to the waist-hip ratio, which was calculated by measuring the circumference of the waist, namely the smallest circumference between the xiphoid and the umbilicus, and the circumference of the hips at the point of the maximum protuberance of the buttocks. The cut-off value for the waist/hip ratio was considered as 0.80 for the reason that this variable is the most accurate cut-off value for abdominal obesity: for group A 0.76 +/- 0.02; for group B 0.89 +/- 0.02 (p < 0.01). All the women were healthy. None of them was in therapy with any kind of drugs, nor was there any restriction to diet. Nobody was a smoker, neither did anyone drink alcoholic beverages.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)