Why Do People Gain Belly Fat in Rural Areas? A Study of Urinary Metal(loid)s and Abdominal Obesity in China

Obesity is prevalent in rural areas of China, and there are inconsistent findings regarding the association between metal­(loid) exposure and the risk of obesity. Abdominal obesity (AOB), which reflects visceral fat abnormity, is a crucial factor in studying obesity-related diseases. We conducted a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2023-05, Vol.57 (21), p.7938-7949
Main Authors: Yu, Yun-Jiang, Li, Zhen-Chi, Tian, Jing-Lin, Hao, Chao-Jie, Kuang, Hong-Xuan, Dong, Chen-Yin, Zhou, Yang, Wu, Qi-Zhen, Gong, Yan-Chen, Xiang, Ming-Deng, Chen, Xi-Chao, Yang, Xiao, Dong, Guang-Hui
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abdominal Fat - chemistry
Apolipoprotein B
Blood pressure
China - epidemiology
Chromium
Ecotoxicology and Public Health
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Exposure
Humans
Metalloids
Metals
Metals - analysis
Metals, Heavy
Obesity
Obesity - epidemiology
Obesity, Abdominal - epidemiology
Risk Assessment
Rural areas
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Summary:Obesity is prevalent in rural areas of China, and there are inconsistent findings regarding the association between metal­(loid) exposure and the risk of obesity. Abdominal obesity (AOB), which reflects visceral fat abnormity, is a crucial factor in studying obesity-related diseases. We conducted a study measuring 20 urinary metal­(loid)­s, 13 health indicators, and the waist circumference (WC) in 1849 participants from 10 rural areas of China to investigate their relationships. In the single exposure models, we found that urinary chromium (Cr) was significantly associated with the odds of having AOB [adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.81 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24, 2.60)]. In the mixture exposure models, urinary Cr consistently emerged as the top contributor to AOB, while the overall effect of mixed metal­(loid)­s was positive toward the odds of having AOB [adjusted OR: 1.33 (95% CI: 1.00, 1.77)], as revealed from the quantile g-computation model. After adjusting for the effects of other metal­(loid)­s, we found that the elevation of apolipoprotein B and systolic blood pressure significantly mediated the association between urinary Cr and the odds of having AOB by 9.7 and 19.4%, respectively. Our results suggest that exposure to metal­(loid)­s is a key factor contributing to the prevalence of AOB and WC gain in rural areas of China.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.2c09464