Body Composition and Biochemical Characteristics of Normal Weight Obesity in Japanese Young Women with Different Physical Activities

A considerable number of people with a normal body mass index (BMI) are at an increased risk of metabolic syndrome due to excessive body fat accumulation (fat mass percentage greater than or equal to 30%). It is important to screen these normal weight obese (NWO) individuals in adolescent and young adults because they are likely to be overlooked due to their normal BMI. The aim of this study is to evaluate the body composition and metabolic characteristics of NWO in a young Japanese female cohort with different physical activity levels. We discovered that (1) a considerable proportion of sedentary young women with normal BMI could be classified as NWO, displaying a cluster of obesity-related phenotypic characteristics including central/abdominal adiposity, hyperleptinemia, enhanced fasting insulin secretion, and hyper-inflammation and hypercoagulative status; (2)endurance trained women had 98% less likelihood of being NWO. Our investigation strongly suggests that active physical exercise should be implemented in sedentary young women in order to avoid the development of NWO.

[1]  L. DiPietro,et al.  Physical activity in the prevention of obesity: current evidence and research issues. , 1999, Medicine and science in sports and exercise.

[2]  Seiji Suzuki,et al.  Relationship between the adiponectin-leptin ratio and parameters of insulin resistance in subjects without hyperglycemia. , 2006, Metabolism: clinical and experimental.

[3]  D. Chisholm,et al.  The metabolically obese, normal-weight individual revisited. , 1998, Diabetes.

[4]  Bruce W Bailey,et al.  Expanded Normal Weight Obesity and Insulin Resistance in US Adults of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey , 2017, Journal of diabetes research.

[5]  S Burastero,et al.  Asians have lower body mass index (BMI) but higher percent body fat than do whites: comparisons of anthropometric measurements. , 1994, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[6]  N. Ruderman,et al.  The "metabolically-obese," normal-weight individual. , 1981, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[7]  Hiroaki Kakizawa,et al.  The ratio of leptin to adiponectin can be used as an index of insulin resistance. , 2008, Metabolism: clinical and experimental.

[8]  R. Martinoli,et al.  Normal weight obese (NWO) women: an evaluation of a candidate new syndrome. , 2006, Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NMCD.

[9]  R. Turner,et al.  Homeostasis model assessment: insulin resistance and β-cell function from fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations in man , 1985, Diabetologia.

[10]  N. Ruderman,et al.  Obesity-associated disorders in normal-weight individuals: some speculations. , 1982, International journal of obesity.

[11]  Remi Rabasa-Lhoret,et al.  Metabolic and body composition factors in subgroups of obesity: what do we know? , 2004, The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism.

[12]  Maria Nowak,et al.  [Metabolic obesity in normal weight individuals and cardiovascular disease]. , 2011, Polski merkuriusz lekarski : organ Polskiego Towarzystwa Lekarskiego.

[13]  E. Poehlman,et al.  Phenotypic characteristics associated with insulin resistance in metabolically obese but normal-weight young women. , 1999, Diabetes.