Abstract
Objective: To describe the relation between body composition and age measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in healthy Japanese adults.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Subjects and measurements: The subjects were 2411 healthy Japanese adults (males 625, females 1786, age 20–79 y) who attended the Fukuoka Health Promotion Center, Fukuoka, Japan for health check-up. Body composition was determined by DXA (QDR-2000, Hologic) for the whole body and three anatomical regions of arms, legs and trunk.
Results: The mean values of body mass index (BMI) and percentage fat mass (%FM) were 23.2±3.1 (s.d.) kg/m2 and 21.8±6.8% for males and 22.1±3.3 kg/m2 and 32.0±7.5% for females, respectively. For males, curvilinear relations with the peaks in their forties or fifties were seen for the variables associated adiposity, ie BMI, waist and hip circumference, waist–hip ratio, total or regional fat mass (FM), %FM and ratio of trunk FM to leg FM. For females, most of these variables increased linearly in older subjects. Lean mass (LM), bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of the whole body and appendicular LM were relatively constant until the forties and then decreased in both sexes. The rates of decrease in the total or appendicular LM were larger for males than for females, whereas those in BMC or BMD were larger for females than for males.
Conclusions: This study presents the first detailed data on body composition in Japanese, which may be useful when comparing with populations of different racial and ethnic backgrounds and studying ill subjects.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2001) 55, 462–470
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barlett HL, Puhl SM, Hodgson JL & Buskirk ER (1991) Fat-free mass in relation to stature: ratios of fat-free mass to height in children, adults, and elderly subjects Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 53 1112–1116
Baumgartner RN, Koehler KM, Gallagher D, Romero L, Heymsfield SB, Ross RR, Garry PJ & Lindeman RD (1998) Epidemiology of sarcopenia among the elderly in New Mexico Am. J. Epidemiol. 147 755–763
Curtin F, Morabia A, Pichard C & Slosman DO (1997) Body mass index compared to dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry: evidence for a spectrum bias J. Clin. Epidemiol. 50 837–843
Forbes GB (1987) Human Body Composition New York: Springer
Forbes GB (1999) Longitudinal changes in adult fat-free mass: influence of body weight Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 70 1025–1031
Gallagher D, Visser M, De Meersman RE, Sepúlveda D, Baumgartner RN, Pierson RN, Harris T & Heymsfield SB (1997) Appendicular skeletal muscle mass: effects of age, gender, and ethnicity J. Appl. Physiol. 83 229–239
Gallagher D, Heymsfield SB, Heo M, Jebb SA, Murgatroyd PR & Sakamoto Y (2000) Healthy percentage body fat ranges: an approach for developing guidelines based on body mass index Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 72 694–701
Guo SS, Zeller C, Chumlea WC & Siervogel RM (1999) Aging, body composition, and lifestyle: the Fels Longitudinal Study Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 70 405–411
Heitmann BL (1991) Body fat in the adult Danish population aged 35–65 y: an epidemiological study Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 15 535–545
Hubert HB, Feinleib M, McNamara PM & Castelli WP (1983) Obesity as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease: a 26-year follow-up of participants in the Framingham Heart Study Circulation 67 968–977
Jebb SA (1997) Measurement of soft tissue composition by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry Br. J. Nutr. 77 151–163
Kannel WB & Wilson PWF (1995) Risk factors that attenuate the female coronary disease advantage Arch. Intern. Med. 155 57–61
Kertzman H, Livshits G & Green MS (1994) Ethnic differences in indices of body mass and body fat distribution in Israel Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 18 69–77
Lapidus L, Bengtsson C, Larsson B, Pennert K, Rybo E & Sjöström L (1984) Distribution of adipose tissue and risk of cardiovascular disease and death: a 12 year follow up of participants in the population study of women in Gothenburg, Sweden Br. Med. J. 289 1257–1261
Ministry of Health and Welfare (1993) National Survey of Circulatory Disorders (1990) Suita: Cardiovascular Research Foundation. (Abstract in English.)
Mott JW, Wang J, Thornton JC, Allison DB, Heymsfield SB & Pierson RN Jr (1999) Relation between body fat and age in four ethnic groups Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 69 1007–1013
Must A, Spadano J, Coakley EH, Field AE, Colditz G & Dietz WH (1999) The disease burden associated with overweight and obesity J.A.M.A. 282 1523–1529
Ohmura A, Kushida K, Yamazaki K, Okamoto S, Katsuno H & Inoue T (1997) Bone density and body composition in Japanese women Calcif. Tissue Int. 61 117–122
Okayama A, Ueshima H, Marmot MG, Elliott P, Yamakawa M & Kita Y (1995) Different trends in serum cholesterol levels among rural and urban populations aged 40–59 in Japan from 1960 to 1990 J. Clin. Epidemiol. 48 329–337
Pichard C, Kyle UG, Bracco D, Slosman DO, Morabia A & Schutz Y (2000) Reference values of fat-free and fat masses by bioelectrical impedance analysis in 3393 healthy subjects Nutrition 16 245–254
Rico H, Revilla M, Villa LF, Ruiz-Contreras D, Hernández ER & Alvarez de Buergo M (1994) The four-compartment models in body composition: data from a study with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and near-infrared interactance on 815 normal subjects Metabolism 43 417–422
Rosenberg IH (1997) Sarcopenia: origins and clinical relevance J. Nutr. 127 990S–991S
Roubenoff R, Dallal GE & Wilson PWF (1995) Predicting body fatness: the body mass index vs estimation by bioelectrical impedance Am. J. Public Health 85 726–728
Smalley KJ, Knerr AN, Kendrick ZV, Colliver JA & Owen OE (1990) Reassessment of body mass indices Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 52 405–408
Stevens J, Cai J, Pamuk ER, Williamson DF, Thun MJ & Wood JL (1998) The effect of age on the association between body-mass index and mortality New Engl. J. Med. 338 1–7
Tsunenari T, Tsutsumi M, Ohno K, Yamamoto Y, Kawakatsu M, Shimogaki K, Negishi H, Sugimoto T, Fukase M & Fujita T (1993) Age- and gender-related changes in body composition in Japanese subjects J. Bone Miner. Res. 8 397–402
Wagner, DR & Heyward, VH (2000) Measures of body composition in blacks and whites: a comparative review Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 71 1392–1402
Yamamoto A, Horibe H, Mabuchi H, Kita T, Matsuzawa Y, Saito Y, Nakaya N, Fujioka T, Tenba H, Kawaguchi A, Nakamura H & Goto Y (1999) Analysis of serum lipid levels in Japanese men and women according to body mass index. Increase in risk of atherosclerosis in postmenopausal women Atherosclerosis 143 55–73
Yanai M, Kon A, Kumasaka K & Kawano K (1997) Body mass index variations by age and sex, and prevalence of overweight in Japanese adults Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 21 484–488
Yoshiiki N, Matsumura Y, Zaman MM & Yamaguchi M (1998) Descriptive epidemiology of body mass index in Japanese adults in a representative sample from the National Nutrition Survey 1990–1994 Int. J. Obes. Relat. Metab. Disord. 22 684–687
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Tadashi Kawaida for his excellent technical assistance in performing DXA measurements. We also wish to thank Kaoru Egami, Yukie Urayama, Mami Yanagawa and other staff of the Fukuoka Health Promotion Center for their contribution to this project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ito, H., Ohshima, A., Ohto, N. et al. Relation between body composition and age in healthy Japanese subjects. Eur J Clin Nutr 55, 462–470 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601206
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601206
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Age-appropriate BMI cut-points for cardiometabolic health risk: a cross-sectional analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
International Journal of Obesity (2022)
-
Characteristics of total body and appendicular bone mineral content and density in Japanese collegiate Sumo wrestlers
Scientific Reports (2022)
-
Estimation of radiation dose from ingested tritium in humans by administration of deuterium-labelled compounds and food
Scientific Reports (2021)
-
Reference values of body composition parameters for Vietnamese men and women
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2021)
-
Usefulness of standardized uptake value normalized by individual CT-based lean body mass in application of PET response criteria in solid tumors (PERCIST)
Radiological Physics and Technology (2016)