Body Composition and Biochemical Characteristics of Normal Weight Obesity in Japanese Young Women with Different Physical Activities

摘要

A considerable number of people with a normal body mass index (BMI) are at an increased risk of metabolic syndrome due to excessive body fat accumulation (fat mass percentage greater than or equal to 30%). It is important to screen these normal weight obese (NWO) individuals in adolescent and young adults because they are likely to be overlooked due to their normal BMI. The aim of this study is to evaluate the body composition and metabolic characteristics of NWO in a young Japanese female cohort with different physical activity levels. We discovered that (1) a considerable proportion of sedentary young women with normal BMI could be classified as NWO, displaying a cluster of obesity-related phenotypic characteristics including central/abdominal adiposity, hyperleptinemia, enhanced fasting insulin secretion, and hyper-inflammation and hypercoagulative status; (2)endurance trained women had 98% less likelihood of being NWO. Our investigation strongly suggests that active physical exercise should be implemented in sedentary young women in order to avoid the development of NWO.