DISCUSSION
The dietary habits of the Japanese have been Westernized rapidly since the
end of World War II. With poorer nutrition (ie, higher fat intake), the causes of
death in Japan have changed considerably.1 In the early research into obesity
in Japan and in Western countries, many studies investigated the relationship
between body weight or BMI and lifestyle diseases such as type 2 diabetes,
coronary heart disease, and hypertension.14 Recently, attention has focused on
the relationship between abdominal fat distribution and lifestyle diseases by
CT analysis; in particular, the relationship between VFA and multiple risk factors
(type 2 diabetes mellitus, dysglycemia, hypertension, coronary heart disease,
hyperuricemia) has been reported.14According to the Japan Society for the Study
of Obesity,14 visceral fat obesity is diagnosed when VFA is 100 cm2
. The
concept of a “visceral fat accumulation” type of obesity is new and very important
for the study of obesity as a disease, and it is expected to be useful in
studies of the prevention of the aforementioned risk factors