Macronutrient Intake, Visceral Fat Accumulation and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Korean Men

Abstract

Over the past decade, Korean adults have increased the percent of calories from fat in their diets from 14% in 1988 to 19% in 1998 although their daily calorie intake have increased 1935 kcal/d to 1991 kcal/d. For adults over the age of twenty, daily fat intake increased from 30 g in 19881) to 42 g in 19982). The prevalence of the high waist to hip ratio (WHR), which is an indicator of central adipose tissue distribution pattern, has increased markedly with changing food habits and increasingly sedentary lifestyles although body mass index (BMI) has only slightly increased from 22.5 kg/m2 to 23.3kg/m2 over the same duration1,2). Similarly, a rapid increase (140%) of mortality rates as a result of coronary artery disease (CAD) was observed3). This confirms that the ability of an individual to cope with an increase in fat intake and central fat distribution may be especially important in the development of CAD.