Reliability of anthropometric parameters in the prediction of the visceral fat area among adult women.

Visceral fat accumulation is a risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) provided the most accurate techniques of abdominal fat assessment, but these methods are very expensive. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the predictive ability of simple anthropometric parameters for visceral fat area (VFA) among adult women in different age and obesity status groups. The sample consisted of 133 adult women (aged 18-76 years). All subjects underwent anthropometric measurements. Body composition and VFA were determined with a multi-frequency bioimpedance analyzer (BIA). 16.9% of the younger women (age < 45) were obese with a body-mass index (BMI) > or = 30.0 kg/m2, and 23.2% of the older individuals (age > 45) had BMI > or = 30 kg/m2. After age and BMI adjustment, the best correlation was observed between VFA and waist circumference (WC) in younger women (R = 0.347, p = 0.002). In the case of the older women, the best correlation efficient values were for SAD (R = 0.560, p < 0.001) and hip circumference (R = 0.550, p < 0.001). The partial correlation coefficients were consistently higher for younger subjects with excessive fat accumulation (overweight & obese subgroup; individuals with WC > 80 cm) compared to women without obesity. Results of the multiple linear stepwise regression analyses showed the significance of age and BMI in prediction of VFA. In addition, hip circumference (HC) was one of the methods that best reflected VFA in older women independently from obesity status. Using single anthropometric parameters is not usually sufficient for predicting with good accuracy the VFA, but the convenient combination of these parameters could be a suitable way for the reliable prediction in Hungarian women.