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Central Adiposity

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Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine

Synonyms

Abdominal obesity; Apple shaped; Visceral adiposity

Definition

Central adiposity is the accumulation of fat in the lower torso around the abdominal area. Central adiposity is a function of both subcutaneous fat, which sits under the skin, and visceral fat, which surrounds the internal organs in the peritoneal cavity. Currently, it would seem that the toxic component of central adiposity is the visceral fat.

High levels of central adiposity have been associated with an increased risk of a number of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and dementia. Of note, it would seem that central adiposity is independent of body mass index (a proxy of total adiposity) as a predictor of disease (even though the two are highly correlated). This increased risk is thought to be due to the hormonal action of visceral fat, which actively excretes adipokines, most of which impair glucose tolerance.

Central adiposity is most often measured as waist circumference (though...

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References and Readings

  • Lee, C., Huxley, R., Wildman, R., & Woodward, M. (2008). Indices of abdominal obesity are better discriminators of cardiovascular risk factors than BMI: A meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 61(7), 646–653.

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  • Misra, A., & Vikram, N. K. (2003). Clinical and pathophysiological consequences of abdominal adiposity and abdominal adipose tissue depots. Nutrition, 19(5), 457–466.

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  • Rexrode, K. M., Carey, V. J., Hennekens, C. H., Walters, E. E., Colditz, G. A., Stampfer, M. J., Willett, W. C., & Manson, J. E. (1998). Abdominal adiposity and coronary heart disease in women. JAMA, 280(21), 1843–1848.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Exercise Science, Concordia University, Montreal Behavioral Medicine Centre, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada

    Dr. Simon Bacon

Authors
  1. Dr. Simon Bacon
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Bacon .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Medicine Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Marc D. Gellman

  2. Cardiovascular Safety, Quintiles, Durham, NC, USA

    J. Rick Turner

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© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media, New York

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Bacon, S. (2013). Central Adiposity. In: Gellman, M.D., Turner, J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Behavioral Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1108

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-1005-9_1108

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-1004-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-1005-9

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