Is ultrasound-measured abdominal fat thickness a reliable method for predicting metabolic diseases in obese and overweight women?

Background: Central fat deposition seems to be a risk factor for developing metabolic and cardiovascular diseases in overweight and obese individuals. Ultrasound is an accurate and non-invasive tool for measuring abdominal fat thickness and can precisely separate subcutaneous from visceral fat. This study was conducted to apply ultrasonography as a simple and reliable method to measure subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat thickness and evaluate the relationship between this measured abdominal fat thickness and metabolic risk factors. Methods: A total of 80 overweight and obese women were included in this study. Anthropometric indices and abdominal fat thickness were measured using ultrasound. The association between abdominal fat thickness and metabolic risk factors with anthropometric indices was assessed using correlation coefficient. Results: The mean (± SD) of subcutaneous and visceral fat thickness was 2.71±0.92 and 5.46±1.88, respectively. There was a relationship between waist circumference and visceral and subcutaneous fat thickness. Also, there was a relationship between ultrasound– measured visceral fat thickness and fasting blood glucose and triglyceride. Conclusion: Ultrasonography is a simple and reliable method to measure abdominal fat thickness as an important predictor of metabolic diseases.