INFLUENCE OF BODY-FAT AND ITS DISTRIBUTIO N ON CARDIOVASCULAR RISK-FACTORS IN HEALTHY WORKERS

The aim of this work was to study the association between obesity and body fat distribution with known cardiovascular risk factors. Seven hu ndred eighty two healthy individuals, 634 men and 148 female age 44 +/ - 10 years were studied. Multiple stepwise regression models were perf ormed in which cardiovascular risk factors (total, LDL and HDL cholest erol, triglycerides, fasting and postprandial blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were considered as the dependent variabl e and age, sex, smoking habits, body mass index (BMI), waist circumfer ence (WC), waist hip ratio (WHR), subescapular/tricipital skinfold rat io (STR) and percentage of total body fat (%BF), derived from the sum of four skinfold as the independent variables. Among anthropometric va riables, WC mass the principal predictor of total cholesterol and basa l blood glucose, WHR was the principal predictor of HDL cholesterol (i nverse relationship) and triglycerides, BMI was the principal predicto r of systolic and diastolic blood pressure; %BF was the principal pred ictor of post prandial blood glucose. Performing the same analysis in a subgroup of patients with a BMI between 21 and 24, measures of fat d istribution continued to be predictors of cardiovascular risk factors. It is concluded that both total body fat and its distribution are rel ated to cardiovascular risk factors and, in some cases, may have an ad ditive effect and should be measured in preventive medical examination s.