A Canonical Analysis of Central and Peripheral Subcutaneous Fat Distribution and Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors in Men and Women Aged 18-65 Years

Document Type

Article

Authors

Steven N. Blair, Institute for Aerobics Research
David A. Ludwig, University of North Carolina - Greensboro
Nancy N. Goodyear, SAS Institute

Abstract

We examined the association between subcutaneous fat dis­tribution and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in 3,443 men and women aged 18-65 years. Participants were individuals who received a preventive medical examination which included blood pressure and blood chemistry measurements and had body composition assessed by both skin- fold and hydrostatic weighing techniques. Unadjusted analyses showed a positive correlation between all skinfold measures and CHD risk factors in both men and women. Canonical redundancy analyses were used to isolate the association of skinfold fat measurements to CHD risk factors. The effects of age and total body fat (as assessed by hydrostatic weighing) were removed from the association by partial correlation techniques. After ad­justment, the peripheral skinfolds (thigh and triceps) loaded negatively (or approached 0) on the canonical variate. We conclude that subcutaneous fat deposits on the trunk are more related to CHD risk factors than sub­cutaneous fat deposits on the extremities. Patterns of subcutaneous fat dis­tribution may be important to assess in clinical and research studies.

Recommended Citation

Blair, Steven N.; Ludwig, David A.; and Goodyear, Nancy N. (1988) "A Canonical Analysis of Central and Peripheral Subcutaneous Fat Distribution and Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors in Men and Women Aged 18-65 Years," Human Biology: Vol. 60: Iss. 1, Article 13.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol60/iss1/13