REGIONAL BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION IN RELATION TO PUBERTAL STAGE - A DUAL-ENERGY X-RAY ABSORPTIOMETRY STUDY OF NEW-ZEALAND GIRLS AND YOUNG-WOMEN

A cross-sectional study of 140 healthy, non-obese women and growing gi rls aged 8-27 y was undertaken to examine changes in total-body and re gional fat and fat-free lean tissue mass by Tanner stage of pubertal d evelopment with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Absolute fat mass an d absolute fat-free lean tissue mass were higher at successive Tanner stages (1 through 5) but the proportional increase was greater for fat : total fat mass (kg) was about threefold higher in Tanner stage 5 tha n in stage 1 (P < 0.001), whereas lean tissue mass (kg) in Tanner stag e 5 was about double that in stage 1 (P < 0.001). Furthermore, althoug h the regional distribution of lean tissue mass in the hunk and legs r emained fairly constant at different pubertal stages, the regional dis tribution of fat was altered significantly, becoming more central and less peripheral. Trunk fat (as a percentage of total body fat) was sig nificantly higher al stage 5 than at stage 1 (P < 0.001). In the whole population, body mass index was positively correlated with trunk fat (r = 0.662, P < 0.0001) and negatively with leg fat (r = -0.457, P < 0 .0001). We conclude that girls accumulate a higher proportion of their total adult fat mass than of their total adult lean tissue mass durin g puberty, and that regional fat patterns become more android and less gynoid with maturity.