Effect of Diet and Exercise Treatment for Obese Japanese Children on Abdominal Fat Distribution

The purpose of this study was to investigate the combined effect of dietary treatment and exercise treatment on abdominal fat distribution and the risk factors for chronic disease in obese Japanese children. The subjects were 33 obese children. The areas of subcutaneous and visceral fat were measured using CT images at the level of the umbilicus. Blood samples were taken to measure risk factors for chronic disease such as triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (T-Cho), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), insulin, asparate amino-transferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and uric acid (UA). Supervised exercise treatment at 50% Vo2max for about 60 min/day was performed 5 or 7 days/week for 3 months. The dietary treatment was varied with daily calorie intake between 1400 and 1900 kcal depending on the degree of obesity. After dietary treatment combined with exercise treatment, the areas of subcutaneous and visceral fat decreased significantly, and such risk factors as TG, T-Cho, insulin, AST, ALT, and UA were noticeably reduced. These data suggest that dietary treatment combined with exercise treatment in obese children normalizes the distribution of abdominal fat and reduces the risk factors for chronic disease.