Factors influencing anatomic location of fat tissue in 52,953 women.

Data from a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study of women was undertaken to determine factors associated with the anatomic distribution of body fat. The women studied were members of TOPS, Inc. (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), a non-profit organization dedicated to weight reduction. Recent evidence suggests that anatomic location of body fat has prognostic significance for some chronic conditions. The simple ratio of waist girth to hip girth can be used to estimate the location of body fat. Using this ratio as an index we found that increased age and higher body weight were significantly associated with greater fat deposition in the waist areas as compared to the hip areas. The effects of age and current obesity level were independent and could not be accounted for on the basis of parity, menopausal status, or obesity history. Furthermore, though obesity history and parity were significantly associated with the waist-hip ratio, they were relatively unimportant, together explaining less than one percent of the observed variation in the ratio. No association could be found between body fat distribution and menopausal status. Our findings do not support previous work which suggested that menopausal status and obesity history were important determinants of body fat location.