We evaluated the visceral adipose tissue accumulation in university students in Okayama prefecture, Japan. Fifty-eight Japanese university students (10 men and 48 women, age 18.4 +/- 0.6 years)were enrolled in this study. Fat distribution was evaluated by visceral fat (V) and subcutaneous fat (S) areas measured with computed tomography (CT) scanning at umbilical levels. Anthropometric parameters,i.e., height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, and body fat percentage; blood examination; and blood pressure (BP) were also measured. In 58 subjects, the V area was 23.4 +/- 21.0 cm(2) and the S area was 122.5 +/- 57.9 cm(2). V areas were significantly correlated with hepatic enzymes, uric acid, triglyceride, and BP in men, while they were weakly correlated with hepatic enzymes, triglyceride, and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women. Correlation coefficients between V areas and clinical parameters were comparatively higher than those between other body composition parameters,i.e., S areas, weight, body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and clinical parameters. The present study suggests that visceral adipose tissue accumulation is important for hepatic enzymes, uric acid, triglyceride, and BP in university students.</p
