Author(s): TOMOMI, T.H., ASAKO, Z.M., YUKA, K., TOMOHIRO, K., SHUICHI, M., Institution: JOSAI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, Country: JAPAN, Abstract-ID: 1496

INTRODUCTION:
Excessive visceral fat accumulation, which leads to lifestyle-related disease, causes the risk of cardiovascular disease. We have reported that approximately 40% of overweight Japanese male university athletes have a visceral fat area (VFA) ≥100 cm2, and the markers of liver function and lipid metabolism are higher than those of their peers with VFA < 100 cm2.
In Japan, visceral fat obesity is defined as VFA ≥100 cm2, and the cut-off value for determining visceral fat obesity is 85 cm in waist circumference (WC) for ordinary men. However, it is unknown whether it is appropriate to use WC as a criterion for determining visceral fat obesity in daily training athletes.
This study aimed to obtain cut-off values for determining visceral fat obesity in Japanese male University athletes.
METHODS:
The participants were 200 male university athletes. Body measurements were taken in the early morning after an overnight fast. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated based on height and body weight. The VFA and WC were measured using abdominal bioelectrical impedance analysis (Panasonic, EW-FA90). Spearmans correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between anthropometric parameters and VFA. Then, logistic regression analysis was performed with VFA ≥ 100 cm2 as the objective variable, and correlated anthropometric parameters as the explanatory variable. Furthermore, cut-off values were calculated using ROC curves.
RESULTS:
Aged 18-24 years, the participants had a median (interquartile range) height of 175.3 cm (170.7 - 179.2 cm), body weight of 69.4kg (62.9 – 77.8 kg), BMI of 22.5 kg/m2 (21.0 – 24.9 kg/m2), VFA 44.0 cm2 (29.0 - 65.0 cm2) and WC 78.9cm (75.0 – 84.7cm). Those with VFA ≥ 100 cm2 accounted for 11.5% (23/200) among participants, with physical characteristics of height 176.9 cm (171.7 – 181.7 cm), body weight 99.0kg (89.3 – 103.9 kg), BMI 31.1 kg/m2 (30.1 – 32.2 kg/m2), VFA 122.5 cm2 (103.5 – 142.0 cm2) and WC 98.4 cm (93.9 – 103.8 cm). Positive correlations were found between VFA and body weight (r = 0.851, p < 0.0001), BMI (r = 0.822, p < 0.0001), and WC (r = 0.937, p < 0.0001), among which WC had the strongest correlations. Results of logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) for body weight was 0.81 (0.59 - 1.10、p = 0.172), BMI was 1.88 (0.89 - 3.97、p = 0.097), and WC was 2.02 (1.13 - 3.62、p < 0.05), indicating WC was the only parameter associated to visceral fat obesity.
The area under the curve for WC 0.994 (0.987 - 1.00, p < 0.001) was the largest compared to body weight 0.977　(0.958 - 0.996、p < 0.001) and BMI 0.989 (0.978 - 1.00、p < 0.001). The cut-off values were body weight 82.7kg (sensitivity 95.7％, specificity 91.5％), BMI 26.4kg/m2 (95.7％, 93.8％), and WC 89.7cm (100％, 96.6％).
CONCLUSION:
It is suggested that the cut-off value of WC for determining Japanese male university athletes with VFA ≥100 cm2 was 89.7 cm.