Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare Canadians of Aboriginal (First Nation, FN) and European ancestry (EA), with respect to obesity, subcutaneous fatness and relative subcutaneous fat distribution.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional comparison.
SUBJECTS: 118 First Nation and 472 European ancestry Canadians from Northern Ontario, youth (5–19 y) and adults (20–75 y).
MEASUREMENTS: Stature, mass and skinfold thicknesses at the triceps, biceps, medial calf, subscapular, suprailiac and abdominal sites.
ANALYSIS: Prevalence of obesity was determined using the 85th percentile of body mass index (BMI) from NHANES II as the cut-off. Principal components (PC) analyses were performed on the six skinfolds. The first component (PC1) represented a trunk-extremity skinfold contrast. Differences in mean component scores between FN and EA were assessed using independent samples t-tests.
RESULTS: Prevalence of obesity among FN was high, ranging from 29% in youth to 60% in adult females. FN demonstrated greater subcutaneous adiposity and greater values for PC1, with the exception of adult males, where the difference is in the expected direction, but is not significant. The direction of the differences indicates that the FN have a greater centralization of subcutaneous fat.
CONCLUSIONS: FN Canadians generally have a greater prevalence of obesity, greater subcutaneous fatness and a more centralized distribution of body fat than those of European ancestry.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Katzmarzyk, P., Malina, R. Obesity and relative subcutaneous fat distribution among Canadians of First Nation and European ancestry. Int J Obes 22, 1127–1131 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800739
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0800739
- Springer Nature Limited
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Do discrimination, residential school attendance and cultural disruption add to individual-level diabetes risk among Aboriginal people in Canada?
BMC Public Health (2015)
-
The Interplay Between Sex, Ethnicity, and Adipose Tissue Characteristics
Current Obesity Reports (2015)
-
Prevalence, risk factors and awareness of albuminuria on a Canadian First Nation: A community-based screening study
BMC Public Health (2012)
-
Obesity and type 2 diabetes in Northern Canada's remote First Nations communities: the dietary dilemma
International Journal of Obesity (2010)
-
Anthropometric measures and glucose levels in a large multi-ethnic cohort of individuals at risk of developing type 2 diabetes
Diabetologia (2010)