Sex difference in measures of body fatness and the possible difference in the effect of dietary fat on body fatness in men and women

Objectives: To examine the sex difference in anthropometric measures of bod y fatness and to explore the possibility that diet may have differential ef fects on body fatness in men and women. Design: Prospective study design. Setting: The first and second China Hearth and Nutrition Survey conducted i n 1989 and 1991. respectively. Subjects: 1449 men and 1683 women age 20-35 y at the baseline (1989) survey . Methods: Anthropometric measures of body fatness in men and women were comp ared. Statistical methods were used to explore the potential difference in the effect of dietary fat on body fatness in men and women. Results: Measures of body fatness, especially peripheral fatness, differed markedly between men and women in this study sample. Statistical analysis s uggested that the effect of dietary fat on body fatness may be different in men compared to women. Conclusions: Sexual dimorphism in body fatness has important implications f or both clinical and epidemiologic research of obesity. The possibility tha t diet may have differential effect on body fatness in men and women needs to be investigated. Sponsorship: This research was supported by the National institute of Healt h, the Carolina Population Center and the Nutrition Institute, University o f North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Descriptors: sexual dimorphism; body fatness; body mass index; triceps skin fold thickness; mid-upper arm fat area; dietary fat; obesity.