A meta-analysis was performed in order to test the
hypothesis that Japanese have a greater amount of abdominal
visceral fat (AVF) relative to abdominal subcutaneous fat (ASF)
than Caucasians. Data were derived from published studies that
included mean values for AVF and ASF areas, measured using
computed tomography, and age for native Japanese,
African-Americans, and Caucasians of both genders. Mean values
from each study were used as single data points. A significant
difference in AVF was observed between Japanese and Caucasian
populations after adjusting for ASF, age, and sex (
p<0.05). However, the difference in
AVF between Japanese and Caucasian females was lower than that
between African-American and Caucasian females.
Key words
Abdominal visceral fat - Fat distribution - Japanese Ethnicity - Meta-analysis