Regional Subcutaneous Fat Characteristics Stratified by Sex, Age, and Obesity, and Their Relationships with Total and Visceral Fat in a Japanese Population

This study aimed to clarify the sex-, age-, and obesity-level-specific regional subcutaneous fat characteristics and their relationships with total and visceral fat in 302 Japanese adults (mean age: 41.8+/-15.7 yr; range: 20.0 to 82.6 yr). Subcutaneous fat thickness at 14 sites (right cheek, chin, chest (2 sites), abdomen, suprailiac, triceps, subscapular, back (2 sites), thigh (2 sites), knee, and calf), percent body fat (%BF) and visceral fat area (VFA) were measured by B-mode ultrasound, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and computed tomography, respectively. The results of 3-way ANOVA (2 sex groups, 5 age groups, 2 obesity-level groups) for each subcutaneous fat thickness at 14 sites indicated that the characteristics of sex-specific differences differed by age groups and obesity levels, and these differences are more apparent in the obese group and the 30- to 50-year-old groups. Subcutaneous fat accumulation progressed toward the central body with increased age and obesity. The relationships between subcutaneous fat, total fat, and visceral fat differed with sex and obesity level. The significant relationship between abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness and VFA was found in the nonobese (BMI<25 kg/m(2)) and nonviscerally obese (VFA<100 cm(2)) groups (male: r=.474; female: r=.417), but not in the nonobese and viscerally obese males (r=-.068) and in the obese and viscerally obese subjects (males: r=.291; females: r=-.327). There may be a close relationship between subcutaneous fat accumulation capacity and visceral fat accumulation.