Lifestyle modifies obesity-associated risk of cardiovascular disease in a genetically homogeneous population.

BACKGROUND The association between obesity and cardiovascular disease risk differs across populations. Whether such differences in obesity-related risk factors exist within population groups of the same genetic origin but with differences in lifestyle remains to be determined. OBJECTIVE The aim was to analyze whether obesity was associated with the same degree of metabolic disturbances in 2 groups of genetically homogeneous Inuit who were exposed to considerable differences in lifestyle. DESIGN We studied obesity and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a cross-sectional population survey of 2311 Inuit living in Denmark (n = 995) or Greenland (n = 1316). The participants received an oral-glucose-tolerance test. Blood tests were supplemented by structured interviews and anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. RESULTS The trend in the association between obesity and metabolic effects was not significantly different in the Inuit populations, but the values of several risk factors were significantly different. At any given level of obesity, Inuit residents in Greenland had lower blood pressure and lower concentrations of triacylglycerol and postchallenge plasma glucose and insulin than did the Inuit migrants in Denmark. The trend in the association with obesity categories was different only for HDL cholesterol, with higher concentrations observed in women Inuit migrants in Denmark than in women Inuit residents in Greenland. CONCLUSIONS The health risk associated with obesity clearly varies within groups of Inuit living in Greenland and Inuit migrants living in Denmark. The findings indicate that lifestyle factors modify the cardiovascular disease risk associated with obesity.

[1]  P. Laurberg,et al.  Gender diversity in developing overweight over 35 years of Westernization in an Inuit hunter cohort and ethno-specific body mass index for evaluation of body-weight abnormalities. , 2004, European journal of endocrinology.

[2]  K. Borch-Johnsen,et al.  Serum lipids of Greenland Inuit in relation to Inuit genetic heritage, westernisation and migration. , 2004, Atherosclerosis.

[3]  Niels Keiding,et al.  A comparison of mortality rates in three prospective studies from Copenhagen with mortality rates in the central part of the city, and the entire country , 1998, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[4]  V. Backer,et al.  Inuit health in Greenland: a population survey of life style and disease in Greenland and among Inuit living in Denmark , 2003, International journal of circumpolar health.

[5]  T. Jørgensen,et al.  Obesity and central fat pattern among Greenland Inuit and a general population of Denmark (Inter99): Relationship to metabolic risk factors , 2003, International Journal of Obesity.

[6]  K. Borch-Johnsen,et al.  Diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance among the inuit population of Greenland. , 2002, Diabetes care.

[7]  M. Carnethon,et al.  Heterogeneity in the relationship between ethnicity, BMI, and fasting insulin. , 2002, Diabetes care.

[8]  V. Choo.  WHO reassesses appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations , 2002, The Lancet.

[9]  D. Allison,et al.  Larger amounts of visceral adipose tissue in Asian Americans. , 2001, Obesity research.

[10]  P. Bjerregaard,et al.  The associations of a marine diet with plasma lipids, blood glucose, blood pressure and obesity among the Inuit in Greenland , 2000, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

[11]  C. Bouchard,et al.  Race, visceral adipose tissue, plasma lipids, and lipoprotein lipase activity in men and women: the Health, Risk Factors, Exercise Training, and Genetics (HERITAGE) family study. , 2000, Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology.

[12]  P. Deurenberg,et al.  Body mass index and percent body fat: a meta analysis among different ethnic groups , 1998, International Journal of Obesity.

[13]  J. Tuomilehto,et al.  Abdominal Fat Distribution and Insulin Levels Only Partially Explain Adverse Cardiovascular Risk Profile in Asian Indians , 1996, Journal of cardiovascular risk.

[14]  Young Tk.  Obesity, central fat patterning, and their metabolic correlates among the inuit of the central Canadian Arctic. , 1996 .

[15]  R N Pierson,et al.  How useful is body mass index for comparison of body fatness across age, sex, and ethnic groups? , 1996, American journal of epidemiology.

[16]  S. Haffner,et al.  Differential impact of obesity in related populations. , 1995, Obesity research.

[17]  N G Norgan,et al.  Population differences in body composition in relation to the body mass index. , 1994, European journal of clinical nutrition.

[18]  F. Pi‐Sunyer,et al.  Race-Dependent Health Risks of Upper Body Obesity , 1993, Diabetes.

[19]  D. Lackland,et al.  Are race differences in the prevalence of hypertension explained by body mass and fat distribution? A survey in a biracial population. , 1992, International journal of epidemiology.

[20]  R. Shephard.  Body composition in biological anthropology. , 1990 .

[21]  P. Björntorp,et al.  The Influence of Body Fat Distribution on the Incidence of Diabetes Mellitus: 13.5 Years of Follow-up of the Participants in the Study of Men Born in 1913 , 1985, Diabetes.

[22]  K. Pennert,et al.  Distribution of adipose tissue and risk of cardiovascular disease and death: a 12 year follow up of participants in the population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden. , 1984, British medical journal.

[23]  William C. Sturtevant,et al.  Handbook of North American Indians , 1978 .