An evaluation of patterns of change in total and regional body fat mass in healthy Spanish subjects using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the evolution of total and regional fat mass according to gender, and to establish age and gender-related differences in a largely non-obese sedentary Spanish sample population using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

SUBJECT/METHODS: A total of 1113 healthy subjects (397 male and 716 female) from the city of Alcalá de Henares (Madrid), Spain, were used in the study. Fat mass measures were obtained from DXA scans of all subjects. Total body fat and body fat in three subregions (trunk, arms and legs) were evaluated.

RESULTS

As opposed to males, females showed from early infancy a smaller rate of muscular mass and a larger percentage of body fat (from 10 years of age), with fat deposits being basically gynoid or peripheral. With age, females showed a greater increase in fat mass together with an accelerated loss of muscular mass. Both rates tended to level out between 51 and 65 years of age. Between the ages of 40 and 60, females exhibited significant morphological evidence of larger fat depots in their legs.

CONCLUSIONS

Gender differences in the patterns of proportion and distribution of body fat, as well as in the pattern of body fat evolution, were found from early infancy. Further research is required, including assessing fat mass variables in order to unravel the dynamic of body composition and to understand the complex relationship between trunk fat mass deposits and the health risks associated with obesity.