Multiethnic Body Composition Study

As described previously [10] , [11] , study subjects were recruited from a random sample (n = 218) of participants in the Multiethnic Cohort Study [12] who were female residents of Oahu, Hawaii, were 60–65 years of age as of September 2009, and had BMIs in the range of 18.5–40 kg/m². All reported that both of their parents were either of Caucasian or Japanese ethnicity. Exclusion criteria included current smoking, use of selected medications (chemotherapy, insulin, or weight-loss drugs), a substantial weight change (≥ 20 pounds in the past six months) or soft or metal implants/objects in the body (n = 46). An additional 98 women were unavailable or unwilling to participate. Among the 74 remaining eligible women, we selected 60 women (30 Caucasians and 30 Japanese Americans) distributed equally across BMI categories (cutoff points at BMI 22, 25, 27.5, and 30 kg/m²) to obtain a balanced representation by ethnicity and BMI levels.
Participants underwent anthropometric measurements, a DXA scan and a fasting venous blood collection at the University of Hawaii Clinical Research Center (UH-CRC). Forty-eight of the 60 women (28 Caucasian and 20 Japanese American) also agreed to participate in an MRI scan at the University of Hawaii and Queen’s Medical Center (UH-QMC) MR Research Center. The Institutional Review Boards of UH and QMC approved the study protocol, and all participants signed an informed consent.