Age- and sex-specific reference intervals for visceral fat mass in adults.

Background/objectives: Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) is becoming a method of choice for the assessment of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) but the lack of robust reference ranges presents a challenge to the interpretation of VAT in clinical practice, research settings, and the athletic environment. The objective of this study was to develop age- and sex-specific reference intervals for DXA-derived VAT mass.

Subjects/methods: The reference group comprised 3219 adults (1886 general population, 42% women; 1333 athletes, 11% women) in the United Kingdom, aged 18-83 years.