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

Abstract

Objectives: To examine the sex difference in anthropometric measures of body fatness and to explore the possibility that diet may have differential effects on body fatness in men and women.

Design: Prospective study design.

Setting: The first and second China Health and Nutrition Survey conducted in 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 compared. 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 suggested 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 for both clinical and epidemiologic research of obesity. The possibility that 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 Health, the Carolina Population Center and the Nutrition Institute, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.