Lifestyle factors and visceral adipose tissue: Results from the PREDIMED-PLUS study

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 25;14(1):e0210726. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210726. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Background: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is a strong predictor of cardiometabolic health, and lifestyle factors may have a positive influence on VAT depot. This study aimed to assess the cross-sectional associations between baseline levels of physical activity (PA), sedentary behaviours (SB) and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) with VAT depot in older individuals with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Methods: Baseline data of the PREDIMED-Plus study including a sample of 1,231 Caucasian men and women aged 55-75 years were used. Levels of leisure-time PA (total, light, and moderate-to-vigorous, in METs·min/day) and SB (total and TV-viewing, in h/day) were evaluated using validated questionnaires. Adherence to the MedDiet was evaluated using a 17-item energy-restricted MedDiet (erMedDiet) screener. The chair-stand test was used to estimate the muscle strength. VAT depot was assessed with DXA-CoreScan. Multivariable adjusted linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between lifestyle factors and VAT. For the statistics we had used multiadjusted linear regression models.

Results: Total leisure-time PA (100 METs·min/day: β -24.3g, -36.7;-11.9g), moderate-to-vigorous PA (β -27.8g, 95% CI -40.8;-14.8g), chair-stand test (repeat: β -11.5g, 95% CI -20.1;-2.93g) were inversely associated, and total SB (h/day: β 38.2g, 95% CI 14.7;61.7) positively associated with VAT. Light PA, TV-viewing time and adherence to an erMedDiet were not significantly associated with VAT.

Conclusions: In older adults with overweigh/obesity and metabolic syndrome, greater PA, muscle strength, and lower total SB were associated with less VAT depot. In this study, adherence to an erMedDiet was not associated with lower VAT.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Humans
  • Intra-Abdominal Fat*
  • Life Style*
  • Middle Aged
  • Prospective Studies
  • Stroke / therapy*

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the official Spanish Institutions for funding scientific biomedical research, CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn) and Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), through the Fondo de Investigación para la Salud (FIS), which is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (four coordinated FIS projects leaded by J.S.-S. and J.Vi., including the following projects: PI13/00462, PI13/01090, PI13/02184, PI14/00853, PI14/00728, PI14/01919, PI16/00501, PI16/00381, PI16/01522, PI17/00525, PI17/00532, PI17/00215, PI17/00926 and the Especial Action Project entitled: Implementación y evaluación de una intervención intensiva sobre la actividad física Cohorte PREDIMED-Plus [J.S.-S.]; the European Research Council (Advanced Research Grant 2013-2018; grant number 340918); the Recercaixa (grant number 2013ACUP00194) [J.S.-S.]; the SEMERGEN grant; International Nut & Dried Fruit Council – FESNAD (Long-term effects of an energy-restricted Mediterranean diet on mortality and cardiovascular disease 2014 –2015, No. 201302) [Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez]; the AstraZeneca Young Investigators Award in Category of Obesity and T2D 2017 [D.R.]; Juan de la Cierva-formación research grant (FJCI-2015-24058) of the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness [J.K.]. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.