Toxic ‘‘Waist’’ Dump: Our Abdominal Visceral Fat

M ore than 50 years ago, a French physician, Dr. Jean Vague, noted that complications in his obese patients had more to do with where the fat was deposited than how much was deposited (1). Dr. Vague is credited with developing the terms ‘‘android’’ and ‘‘gynoid’’ obesity. Android is the high-risk type of obesity typically found in males, where the fat is deposited centrally (apple shape). Gynoid is a low-risk type of obesity typically found in females, where the fat is deposited in the gluteofemoral region, that is, the buttocks and thighs (pear shape). Whereas this concept of the appleand pear-shaped obesity has been around for more than half a century, it is only recently that researchers have uncovered mechanisms underlying the health risks of differing fat deposition sites.