Metabolic disturbances in normal-weight obesity: a cross-sectional study of Iranian employees
Abstract
Purpose
Normal-weight obesity (NWO), characterized by normal body mass index (BMI) but excess body fat, is a potential contributor to chronic diseases. This study aims to assess the relationship between this phenomenon and some metabolic factors in a population of Iranian employees.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study was conducted on Iranian employees from the baseline data of Employees Health Cohort Study, Shiraz, Iran. Anthropometric measures, including weight, height, waist circumference and percentage of body fat, were obtained from the cohort database. The participants were divided into three groups: healthy, normal-weight obese and overweight/obese. Metabolic variables including blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, liver function enzymes and metabolic syndrome were assessed in relation to the study groups.
Findings
A total of 985 participants aged 25–64 years were included. Males with NWO had significantly higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels compared to the healthy group in the fully adjusted model. Also, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was significantly lower among females with overweight/obesity than healthy group when adjusted for age and energy intake. Furthermore, after adjusting for age and energy intake, both genders in the overweight/obese group showed significantly elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure, while this was not observed for the NWO group. Lastly, metabolic syndrome was more prevalent in NWO as well as overweight/obesity.
Originality/value
These findings further encourage identification of excess body fat, even in normal-weight individuals, to prevent chronic metabolic diseases. Special attention should be paid to subgroups with sedentary occupations, as they may be at increased risk for NWO-related health issues.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
An incomplete preprint version has been uploaded to the Research Square under a CC BY 4.0 License, available on https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2471505/v1. Hereby, the authors would like to thank A. Keivanshekouh for improving the use of English in the manuscript. STROBE check list is available at https://mega.nz/file/XZN0kRyC#lQEc0e54o_5fKOYVIy4gDcTY3VkycRobkYJHLwv0rOs.
Funding: None.
Ethics approval and consent to participate: The study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All the individuals joining the cohort study were informed about EHCS-SUMS aims and protocols and were required to sign a written informed consent form. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (code: IR.SUMS.REC.1399.498).
Availability of data and materials: The data that support the findings of this study are available from EHCS-SUMS, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study and so are not publicly available. Data are however available from the authors upon reasonable request and with permission of EHCS-SUMS authority.
Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Consent for publication: Not applicable.
Authors’ contributions: MHE and AK designed research. SJM and AK conducted research and obtained data. AK and MAM analyzed data and interpreted the results. AK, MAM and SJ wrote the paper. MAM, SJ and MHE substantially revised the manuscript. AK had primary responsibility for the final content. MHE and SJM supervised the entire study process. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Citation
Masoumi, S.J., Kohanmoo, A., Mohsenpour, M.A., Jamshidi, S. and Eftekhari, M.H. (2024), "Metabolic disturbances in normal-weight obesity: a cross-sectional study of Iranian employees", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-12-2023-0286
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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