Relationships Between Body Roundness with Body Fat and Visceral Adipose Tissue Emerging from a New Geometrical Model

Authors

• Diana M. Thomas, United States Military Academy at West Point
• Carl Bredlau, Kiel University
• Anja Bosy-Westphal, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
• Manfred Mueller, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Wei Shen, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
• Dympna Gallagher, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
• Yuna Maeda, Montclair State University
• Andrew McDougall, Montclair State UniversityFollow
• Courtney M. Peterson, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Eric Ravussin, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Steven B. Heymsfield, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2013

Journal / Book Title

Obesity

Abstract

Objective To develop a new geometrical index that combines height, waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC) and relate this index to total and visceral body fat. Design and Methods Subject data were pooled from three databases that contained demographic, anthropometric, dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measured fat mass, and magnetic resonance imaging measured visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume. Two elliptical models of the human body were developed. Body roundness was calculated from the model using a well-established constant arising from the theory. Regression models based on eccentricity and other variables were used to predict %body fat and %VAT. Results A body roundness index (BRI) was derived to quantify the individual body shape in a height-independent manner. Body roundness slightly improved predictions of %body fat and %VAT compared to the traditional metrics of body mass index (BMI), WC, or HC. On this basis, healthy body roundness ranges were established. An automated graphical program simulating study results was placed at http://www.pbrc.edu/bodyroundness. Conclusion BRI, a new shape measure, is a predictor of %body fat and %VAT and can be applied as a visual tool for health status evaluations.

DOI

10.1002/oby.20408

MSU Digital Commons Citation

Thomas, Diana M.; Bredlau, Carl; Bosy-Westphal, Anja; Mueller, Manfred; Shen, Wei; Gallagher, Dympna; Maeda, Yuna; McDougall, Andrew; Peterson, Courtney M.; Ravussin, Eric; and Heymsfield, Steven B., "Relationships Between Body Roundness with Body Fat and Visceral Adipose Tissue Emerging from a New Geometrical Model" (2013). Department of Mathematics Facuty Scholarship and Creative Works. 153.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/mathsci-facpubs/153

Rights

HHS Public Access Author manuscript; available in PMC 2014 May 01. Published in final edited form as: Obesity (Silver Spring). 2013 November ; 21(11): 2264–2271. doi:10.1002/oby.20408.

Published Citation

Thomas, D.M., Bredlau, C., Bosy-Westphal, A., Mueller, M., Shen, W., Gallagher, D., Maeda, Y., McDougall, A., Peterson, C.M., Ravussin, E. and Heymsfield, S.B. (2013), Relationships between body roundness with body fat and visceral adipose tissue emerging from a new geometrical model. Obesity, 21: 2264-2271. https://doi.org/10.1002/oby.20408