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As a part of the Fels Body Composition Study (an extension of the Fels Longitudinal Study in Yellow Springs, Ohio), the hypothesis was examined that a centripetal fat pattern, characterized by a greater proportion of trunkal than extremity adiposity, was associated independent of age and per cent body fat with levels of plasma lipids and lipoprotein cholesterols and blood pressures. A cross-sectional sample of 303 white men and women, 18 to 57 years of age, measured between September 1976 and August 1979, was selected without regard to diagnosis of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, or obesity. The degree of centripetal adipose tissue distribution was indexed by the logarithm of the ratio of the subscapular to lateral calf skinfold thicknesses. Per cent body fat was estimated by densitometry. In multiple regression equations controlling for age, age2, and per cent body fat, centripetal fat pattern had a small but significant positive association with systolic blood pressure in men (R2 = 0.02, p less than 0.05). In women, centripetal fat pattern had small but significant positive associations with plasma triglycerides (R2 = 0.05, p less than 0.005), and a significant negative association with plasma high density lipoprotein cholesterol (R2 = 0.08, p less than 0.0005) after effects due to age, age2, and per cent body fat had been removed. Centripetal fat patterns appear to be associated with an "atherogenic" lipid profile in women, but the association in men is confounded with effects due to age and total body adiposity.
Baumgartner et al. (Thu,) studied this question.