Study finds Japanese Americans have higher risk of accumlating fat in liver, abdomen

A new study by the University of Hawaii Cancer Center found that Japanese Americans are at greater risk of building fat in the abdomen and liver when compared to other groups, HawaiiNewsNow reports.

According to University of Hawaii News, the study began collecting data from 2,000 participants in 2013 and finished in 2016. Participants were 60 to 77-year-old Hawaii or Los Angeles residents of African, European, Japanese, Latino, or Native Hawaiian ancestry.

The goal of the study was to identify groups that may be at higher-risk for metabolic disorders.

“Our goal is to develop blood markers of visceral and liver fat in order to identify high-risk individuals for prevention of metabolic diseases,” said Loïc Le Marchand, UH Cancer Center epidemiologist and study’s principal investigator told University of Hawaii News. “We are also testing dietary and lifestyle changes that would specifically reduce visceral fat and liver fat. Physicians in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere should be aware that race/ethnicity is an important risk factor for metabolic diseases and obesity-related cancers.”

In the study, Japanese Americans had the highest distribution of fat in the abdomen and liver. African Americans had the lowest. Excess fat can put people at greater risk for metabolic disorders.

“These metabolic disorders, if left untreated, may lead to heart disease, diabetes and more than a dozen types of common cancers,” Unhee Lim, UH Cancer Center epidemiologist and the study’s lead author, told HawaiiNewsNow.

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