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Relationship between the body adiposity index and cardiometabolic risk factors in obese postmenopausal women

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Abstract

Objective

The purpose of the present secondary analysis study was to investigate the ability of the body adiposity index (BAI) to detect changes in % body fat levels before and after a weight loss intervention when compared to % body fat levels measured using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and to examine the relationship between the BAI with cardiometabolic risk factors.

Methods

The study population for this secondary analysis included 132 non-diabetic obese sedentary postmenopausal women (age: 57.2 ± 4.7 years, BMI: 35.0 ± 3.7 kg/m2) participating in a weight loss intervention that consisted of a calorie-restricted diet with or without resistance training. We measured: (1) visceral fat using CT-scan, (2) body composition using DXA, (3) hip circumference and height from which the BAI was calculated, and (4) cardiometabolic risk factors such as insulin sensitivity (using the hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp), blood pressure as well as fasting plasma lipids, hsC-reactive protein (CRP), leptin, and glucose.

Results

Percent body fat levels for both methods significantly decreased after the weight loss intervention. In addition, the percent change in % body fat levels after the weight loss intervention was significantly different between % body fat measured using the DXA and the BAI (−4.5 ± 6.6 vs. −5.8 ± 5.9%; p = 0.03, respectively). However, we observed a good overall agreement between the two methods, as shown by the Bland–Altman analysis, for percent change in % body fat. Furthermore, similar correlations were observed between both measures of % body fat with cardiometabolic risk factors. However, results from the multiple linear regression analysis showed that % body fat using the BAI appeared to predict cardiometabolic risk factors differently than % body fat using the DXA in our cohort.

Conclusions

Estimating % body fat using the BAI seems to accurately trace variations of % body fat after weight loss. However, this index showed differences in predicting cardiometabolic risk factors when compared to % body fat measured using DXA.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript was supported by CIHR (Canadian Institute for Health Research) grants: 63279 MONET study (Montreal Ottawa New Emerging Team) and 88590 SOMET study (Sherbrooke Montreal Ottawa Emerging Team) as well as the J-A DeSève chair for clinical research to RRL. RRL and AK hold scholarships from the Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec. BE holds a Vanier scholarship from the CIHR.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinanthropology, Université du Québec à Montréal, Case postale 8888, Succursale Centre-ville, Montreal, QC, H3C 3P8, Canada

    Antony D. Karelis

  2. Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Antony D. Karelis

  3. Department of Nutrition, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Belinda Elisha, Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret & Antony D. Karelis

  4. Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), Montreal, QC, Canada

    Belinda Elisha, Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret & Virginie Messier

  5. Montreal Diabetes Research Center (MDRC), Montreal, QC, Canada

    Belinda Elisha & Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret

  6. Endocrinology Division, Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), Montreal, QC, Canada

    Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret

  7. School of Human Kinetic, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Joseph Abdulnour

Authors
  1. Belinda Elisha
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  2. Rémi Rabasa-Lhoret
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  3. Virginie Messier
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  4. Joseph Abdulnour
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  5. Antony D. Karelis
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Correspondence to Antony D. Karelis.

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Elisha, B., Rabasa-Lhoret, R., Messier, V. et al. Relationship between the body adiposity index and cardiometabolic risk factors in obese postmenopausal women. Eur J Nutr 52, 145–151 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0296-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-011-0296-y

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