Validation of anthropometric indices of adiposity against whole-body magnetic resonance imaging--a study within the German European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohorts

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 13;9(3):e91586. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091586. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Background: In epidemiological studies, measures of body fat generally are obtained through anthropometric indices such as the body mass index (BMI), waist (WC), and hip circumferences (HC). Such indices, however, can only provide estimates of a person's true body fat content, overall or by adipose compartment, and may have limited accuracy, especially for the visceral adipose compartment (VAT).

Objective: To determine the extent to which different body adipose tissue compartments are adequately predicted by anthropometry, and to identify anthropometric measures alone, or in combination to predict overall adiposity and specific adipose tissue compartments, independently of age and body size (height).

Methods: In a sub-study of 1,192 participants of the German EPIC (European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition) cohorts, whole-body MRI was performed to determine adipose and muscle tissue compartments. Additional anthropometric measurements of BMI, WC and HC were taken.

Results: After adjusting for age and height, BMI, WC and HC were better predictors of total body volume (TBV), total adipose tissue (TAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) than for VAT, coronary adipose tissue (CAT) and skeletal muscle tissue (SMT). In both sexes, BMI was the best predictor for TBV (men: r = 0.72 [0.68-0.76], women: r = 0.80 [0.77-0.83]) and SMT (men: r = 0.52 [0.45-0.57], women: r = 0.48 [0.41-0.54]). WC was the best predictor variable for TAT (r = 0.48 [0.41-0.54]), VAT (r = 0.44 [0.37-0.50]) and CAT (r = 0.34 [0.26-0.41]) (men), and for VAT (r = 0.42 [0.35-0.49]) and CAT (r = 0.29 [0.22-0.37]) (women). BMI was the best predictor for TAT (r = 0.49 [0.43-0.55]) (women). HC was the best predictor for SAT (men (r = 0.39 [0.32-0.45]) and women (r = 0.52 [0.46-0.58])).

Conclusions: Especially the volumes of internal body fat compartments are poorly predicted by anthropometry. A possible implication may be that associations of chronic disease risks with the sizes of internal body fat as measured by BMI, WC and HC may be strongly underestimated.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adiposity*
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Anthropometry
  • Body Mass Index
  • Cohort Studies
  • Europe
  • Female
  • Germany
  • Hip
  • Humans
  • Intra-Abdominal Fat
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal
  • Waist Circumference

Grants and funding

The first author was supported by the “Kompetenznetz Adipositas” (Competence Network Obesity) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF, http://www.bmbf.de/en/index.php), grant number: 01GI1121B. The sub-studies in Potsdam and Heidelberg were supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (grant numbers: 01ER0808, 01ER0809). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.