Is fat mass index superior to total fat mass percentage in predicting the metabolic syndrome?

Y. Bozkus; A. Kut; U. Mousa; C. Demir; C. Anil; N. Tutuncu

Aim: We aimed to compare the cut off values, defined to express the excess total body fat (TBF) percentange and increased fat mass index (FMI) as predictors of metabolic syndrome (MS).

Subjects and methods: A total of 162 obese (body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m²) subjects’ TBF were measured by ‘Tanita TBF 300 Body Composition Analyzer’. Patients were divided into two groups called normal obese (NO) and fatty obese (FO) according to the cut off values determined in De Lorenzo, NHANES and Switzerland models and cut off value determined for FMI (Table). Then we compared MS (National Cholesterol Education Program critera is used) prevalences in NO and FO groups.

Results: The number of FO patients according to the DeLorenzo, NHANES, Switzerland cut off values and FMI cut off values were respectively 142 (88%), 112 (69%), 119 (73%) and 88 (54%; Table). The prevalences of MS among FO patients were respectively 34% (P: 0.916), 35% (P: 0.858), 34.5% (P: 0.853) and 42% (P: 0.02; Table). According to these results, while cut off values for FMI were significantly associated with MS, the others were not. The percentage of MS among FO patients was highest (42%) and the percentage of the patients without MS among NO patients was highest (76%) according to the FMI cut off values.

Conclusion: Different cut of values used to define excess body fat according to gender and age by DeLorenzo, NHANES and Switzerland models seems not to predict the MS; but cut off values for FMI, significantly predicts MS. Contribution of other anthropometric measures such as sex, age, race and height to TBF, may increase its predictive value for MS development

Metabolic syndrome, total body fat, fat mass index

**Table 1** Comparison of MS prevelances between NO and FO patients according to the cut off values determined in De Lorenzo, NHANES and Switzerland models and cut off values determined for FMI.
	DeLorenzo*		NHANES^†		Switzerland^‡		FMI^§
	Normal obese	Fatty obese	Normal obese	Fatty obese	Normal obese	Fatty obese	Normal obese	Fatty obese
MS present	13 (65%)	94 (66%)	34 (68%)	73 (65%)	29 (67%)	78 (65.5%)	56 (76%)	51 (58%)
MS absent	7 (35%)	48 (34%)	16 (32%)	39 (35%)	14 (33%)	41 (34.5%)	18 (24%)	37 (42%)
*P=0.916, ^†P=0.858, ^‡P=0.853, ^§P=0.020. MS, metabolic syndrome; NO, normal obese; FO, fatty obese; FMI, fat mass index (total body fat (kg)/square of height (m²)).

Declaration of interest: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research project.

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.

Endocrine Abstracts

P1267