TABLE 1.

Comparing the level of body fat and metabolic risk in different racial/ethnic groups among 5 studies conducted in the USA since 2007¹

References	Study design	Key findings: racial/ethnic differences in body fat and metabolic risk
Children
Harrington et al., 2013 (25)	Survey, LA NHB vs. NHW 15–18 y, n = 95 Visceral adipose tissue (L)2 and fat mass (kg) vs. OB	Although NHW and NHB girls had a significant different level of OB (9.5 vs. 32.3%) and fat mass (18.7 ± 7.9 vs. 27.0 ± 16.3 kg; all P < 0.01), their levels of visceral adipose tissue were similar (0.17 ± 0.14 vs. 0.18 ± 0.14, P > 0.05)
Dugas et al., 2011 (26)	NHANES3 NHB and MA vs. NHW 12–20 y, n = 5622 Percent of body fat among normal weight and OW children	NHBs had a lower percent of body fat (e.g. among OW boys: 24.8%) than NHWs and MAs (28.2 & 28.8%; P < 0.001) MAs had a higher percent of body fat (e.g. among OW girls: 38.6%) than NHW (37.8%; P < 0.001)
Affuso et al., 2010 (27)	NHANES3 NHB vs. NHW and MA 13–19 y, n = 3838 Percent of body fat	NHBs had a significantly lower percent of body fat than others after controlling for weight status [e.g. the difference between NHBs vs. NHWs: boys –2.5 (0.4), girls –2.0 (0.3), all P < 0.001]
Sisson et al., 2009 (28)	Survey, LA NHB vs. NHW 5–18 y, n = 3218 Sum of skinfolds and waist circumference	NHBs had significantly lower skinfolds (data were not shown) and WC (e.g. M: 83.1 vs. 88.3 cm, F: 82.1 vs. 84.0 cm among children with OB, all P < 0.05) than NHWs after adjusting for BMI and age regardless of weight status
Adults
Palaniappan et al. 2011 (29)	Electronic health record, CA NHA vs. NHW ≥35 y; n = 43,507 Predicted prevalence of metabolic syndrome at the same BMI level	At the mean age of 55 and BMI of 25 kg/m2, the predicted prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher among NHAs (M: 43%, F: 30%) vs. NHWs (M: 22%, F: 12%)

¹All studies had a cross-sectional study design, and their global score of study quality assessment was 8. Contents were ordered by age group and publication year. Obesity and severe obesity were classified as BMI ≥30 and ≥40 kg/m² in adults (18, 19), and BMI ≥95th percentile, and BMI ≥120% of the 95th percentile, or BMI ≥35kg/m²,  whichever was lower using the age-sex-specific BMI percentile in the 2000 CDC growth charts (20, 21) in children, respectively.

²Visceral adipose tissue and fat mass were measured by MRI scans and DXA.

³A nationally representative sample.

F, female; L, liter; M, male; MA, Mexican American; NHA, non-Hispanic Asian; NHB, non-Hispanic black; NHW, non-Hispanic white; OW, overweight; OB, obesity; WC, waist circumference.