Intra-abdominal fat accumulation is greatest at younger ages in Japanese-American adults

Aims: We evaluated whether changes over 10-11 years in weight, subcutaneous abdominal fat (SQAF), and intra-abdominal fat (IAF) differ by age and contrasted age-related adiposity changes by gender. Methods: This is a prospective cohort study of non-diabetic, Japanese-American men and women aged 34-74 years. IAF and SQAF were measured by CT scan at baseline and 10-11-year follow-up visits. Results: The youngest participants gained the most weight, SQAF and IAF over 10-11 years. Older age at baseline was associated with significantly less change in weight (β-coefficient: -0.19, 95% CI -0.22, -0.15), SQAF (β-coefficient: -0.07, 95% CI -0.11, -0.02) and IAF (β-coefficient: -0.74, 95% CI -1.03, -0.45) that persisted even after adjustments for sex, smoking, caloric intake, adiposity at baseline, and change in physical activity. Age was positively correlated with change in SQAF (β-coefficient: 0.14, 95% CI 0.10, 0.18) and IAF (β-coefficient: 0.51, 95% CI 0.21, 0.81) in separate models after further adjustment for weight change. Gender did not alter the associations between adiposity change and age. Conclusions: Men and women gained the greatest absolute amount of weight, SQAF, and IAF at younger ages; however, older adults with comparable weight changes had relatively greater fat accumulation within IAF and SQAF depots.