Overweight and obesity is escalating in New Zealand and other developed countries worldwide. Complex interactions between human physiology, lifestyle (sedentary lifestyles, inappropriate dietary habits) and the obesogenic environment may result in increased disease risk (metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes mellitus, and cardiovascular diseases). Chronic psychological stressors like performance pressure (study, work) may also contribute to stress-induced eating, resulting in food consumed in excess of requirements, usually with greater preference for highly palatable, nutrient-dense foods that may be related to hormonal appetite regulation.

Overweight is usually characterized by high body mass index (BMI) levels. Although BMI is measured and calculated easily, it does not reveal excess body fat or reflect the fat mass distribution in the body. Many women may have a normal BMI which may be accompanied by a higher than normal percentage body fat and vice versa. Therefore, using only the BMI to classify women in terms of weight and to identify metabolic risk may lead to misclassification.

Our research aimed to investigate whether women with different BMI and body fat profiles will have similar metabolic risk and to identify causal factors of overweight between the groups of women with different body composition profiles. Few other studies have focused on differences between body fat patterns and obesity or metabolic risk in New Zealand. This presentation will describe the body composition profiles that were found in a group of NZ European women, and the possible links between the various factors that might differentiate the profiles. Differences between the various body composition profiles might give us a better understanding of related health and disease risk and the management and treatment required for groups with different profiles.