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Effects of aerobic exercise and obesity phenotype on abdominal fat reduction in response to weight loss

International Journal of Obesity volume 29, pages 1259–1266 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To test the effects on abdominal fat reduction of adding aerobic exercise training to a diet program and obesity phenotype in response to weight loss.

DESIGN:

A prospective clinical trial with a 14-week weight-loss intervention design.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:

In total, 209 overweight and obese women were assigned to four subgroups depending on type of treatment and the subject's obesity phenotype: diet alone (DA) with intra-abdominal fat (IF) obesity (≥mean IF area), diet plus exercise (DE) with IF obesity, DA with abdominal subcutaneous fat (ASF) obesity (<mean IF area) and DE with ASF obesity. Abdominal fat areas were evaluated by CT scans, with values adjusted for selected variables.

RESULTS:

Values were adjusted for age, menopausal status and change in body weight and total fat mass. The IF reductions were significantly (P<0.0001) greater in subjects with IF obesity phenotype (−45.1 cm2) compared to the ASF obesity phenotype (−22.2 cm2). The ASF reductions were significantly (P<0.001) greater for subjects with ASF obesity (−74.5 cm2) compared to IF obesity (−55.5 cm2). For IF obesity, the IF reduction was significantly (P<0.01) greater in the DE group (−49.3 cm2) than in the DA group (−37.8 cm2).

CONCLUSION:

These results suggest that for individuals with IF obesity, the efficacy on reducing IF of adding aerobic exercise training to a diet-alone weight-reduction program is more prominent (−49.3 cm2/−37.8 cm2=1.3 times) compared with DA. Moreover, abdominal fat reduction was found to be modified by obesity phenotype in response to weight loss.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by Grants-in-Aid from the Japanese Society of Physical Fitness and Sports Medicine (1998–2000), by the TanakaProject (2004–2006) of TARA (Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance) at University of Tsukuba, and by the 21st century COE (Center of Excellence) program, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (2002–2006 Nishihira Project: Promotion of health and sport scientific research).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    T Okura, Y Nakata & K Tanaka

  2. Center for TARA (Tsukuba Advanced Research Alliance), Tsukuba, Japan

    T Okura, Y Nakata & K Tanaka

  3. Institute of Sports and Science, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea

    D J Lee

  4. Doctoral program in Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan

    K Ohkawara

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  1. T Okura
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Correspondence to T Okura.

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Okura, T., Nakata, Y., Lee, D. et al. Effects of aerobic exercise and obesity phenotype on abdominal fat reduction in response to weight loss. Int J Obes 29, 1259–1266 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803013

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