Obesity is an important risk factor for cardiometabolic outcomes [1]–[5]. Heterogeneity in the regional deposition of fat, particularly, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), may be more deleterious than total body obesity. Numerous epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that central obesity, measured by simple anthropometric measures including waist circumference or waist-hip-ratio (WHR), is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and glucose, insulin, and lipid metabolism, independent of overall obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI) [6]–[19]. However, waist circumference is limited due to its inability to discriminate between VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) [20]. Computed tomography (CT) provides a more direct and precise assessment of adipose tissue compartments. In many studies, the associations between CVD risk factors and directly-measured VAT are stronger than the associations observed with other typical anthropometric measures [21]–[28].
