Relationship of fat patterning to coronary artery disease risk in obese adolescents

Fatness and fat patterning of 27 male and 33 female obese adolescents were identified by principal-components analysis of five skinfolds (triceps, subscapular, iliac, abdominal, and thigh). Correlations were computed between the component scores, based on the eigen vectors, and anthropometric and physiological variables. Overall fatness, component I, was highly correlated with all anthropometric and body composition variables. Also, component I significantly correlated with fasting insulin and VO2 max for both sexes and with basal metabolism and HDL-cholesterol for females and males, respectively. Extremity fat patterning, component II, was poorly correlated with all the anthropometric and physiological variables except diastolic blood pressure for the females. Upper-lower body fat patterning, component III, was correlated with the fewest physiological variables.