Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Jan 17;13(1):e0190645.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0190645. eCollection 2018.

Low fitness is associated with abdominal adiposity and low-grade inflammation independent of BMI

Anne-Sophie Wedell-Neergaard  1 , Louise Eriksen  2 , Morten Grønbæk  2 , Bente Klarlund Pedersen  1 , Rikke Krogh-Madsen  1 , Janne Tolstrup  2
Affiliations

Low fitness is associated with abdominal adiposity and low-grade inflammation independent of BMI

Anne-Sophie Wedell-Neergaard et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objective: Up to 30% of obese individuals are metabolically healthy. Metabolically healthy obese (MHO) individuals are characterized by having low abdominal adiposity, low inflammation level and low risk of developing metabolic comorbidity. In this study, we hypothesize that cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) is a determinant factor for the MHO individuals and aim to investigate the associations between fitness, abdominal adiposity and low-grade inflammation within different BMI categories.

Method: Data from 10,976 individuals from the general population, DANHES 2007-2008, on waist circumference, fitness and C-reactive protein (hsCRP) were analysed using multiple linear and median quantile regressions.

Results: In men, an inverse association between fitness (+5 mL min-1 kg-1) and waist circumference (-1.45 cm; 95% CI: -1.55 to -1.35 cm; p<0.001), and an inverse association between fitness (+5 mL min-1 kg-1) and hsCRP (-0.22 mg/L; 95% CI: -0.255 to -0.185 mg/L; p<0.001) was found, all independent of BMI. Similarly in women, an inverse association between fitness (+5 mL min-1 kg-1) and waist circumference (-1.15 cm; 95% CI: -1.25 to -1.0 cm; p<0.001), and an inverse association between fitness (+5 mL min-1 kg-1) and hsCRP (-0.26 mg/L; 95% CI: -0.3 to -0.22 mg/L; p<0.001) was found, all independent of BMI. Additionally, significant positive associations between waist circumference and hsCRP were found for both men and women, independently of BMI.

Conclusion: Fitness was found to be inversely associated with both abdominal adiposity and low-grade inflammation independent of BMI. These data suggest that, in spite of BMI, high fitness levels lead to a reduction in abdominal fat mass and low-grade inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Selection of subjects.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Waist circumference by cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI in men and women.
Values are estimated, from the regression model, for a 40 year old woman or man with a BMI (kg/m2) of respectively 20, 25, 30 or 35.
Fig 3
Fig 3. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein by waist circumference and BMI in men and women.
Values are estimated, from the regression model, for a 40 years old woman or man with a BMI (kg/m2) of respectively 20, 25, 30 or 35.
Fig 4
Fig 4. High sensitivity C-reactive protein by cardiorespiratory fitness and BMI in men and women.
Values are estimated, from the regression model, for a 40 year old woman or man with a BMI (kg/m2) of respectively 20, 25, 30 or 35.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Boonchaya-anant P, Apovian CM. Metabolically Healthy Obesity—Does it Exist? Curr Atheroscler Rep. 2014;16: 441 doi: 10.1007/s11883-014-0441-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Kramer CK, Zinman B, Retnakaran R. Are Metabolically Healthy Overweight and Obesity Benign Conditions? Ann Intern Med. 2013;159: 758–769. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-159-11-201312030-00008 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Oliveros E, Somers VK, Sochor O, Goel K, Lopez-Jimenez F. The concept of normal weight obesity. Prog Cardiovasc Dis. Elsevier Inc.; 2014;56: 426–33. doi: 10.1016/j.pcad.2013.10.003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wajchenberg BL. Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissue: their relation to the metabolic syndrome. Endocr Rev. 2000;21: 697–738. doi: 10.1210/edrv.21.6.0415 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Primeau V, Coderre L, Karelis a D, Brochu M, Lavoie M-E, Messier V, et al. Characterizing the profile of obese patients who are metabolically healthy. Int J Obes (Lond). 2011;35: 971–981. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances