No association of BMI and body adiposity with cardiometabolic biomarkers among a small sample of reindeer herders of sub-Arctic Finland

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary of the anthropometrics for the herders in the October 2018 and January 2019 data collection periods. The age and sex categories have been removed to protect participant confidentiality

Participant	Height (cm)	Weight (kg)	BMI (kg/m^2)	Body Fat %	Fat-free mass (kg)
October 2018 Data Collection
4	163	81.3	30.6	37.9	50.5
5	194.6	128.6	34	29	91.3
7	178	78	24.6	21.4	50.9
8	179	87	27.2	28.6	61.9
9	195	88	23.1	21.5	68.1
10	173	65	21.7	22.1	52.2
11	183.5	83.9	24.9	21.5	65.9
12	179.5	107.1	33.2	38.2	66.1
13	168	74.7	26.5	23.2	57.4
14	161	61.5	23.7	31.8	41.9
15	179	88.7	27.7	28.2	63.7
16	186.7	87.3	25	17.7	71.8
17	184.5	104	30.6	26	77
18	175.5	101.1	32.8	27.1	73.7
19	181.5	84.1	25.5	24.1	63.8
20	172	82.8	28	25.8	61.5
21	183.2	96.4	28.7	27.1	70.3
22	161.5	58.9	22.6	30.8	40.7
23	161	65.4	25.2	38.1	40.5
24	163.8	76.9	28.7	40.6	45.7
Female Means ± SD	162.1 ± 1.3	68.6 ± 9.8	26.2 ± 3.4	35.8 ± 4.3	43.9 ± 4.3
Male Means ± SD	180.9 ± 7.6	90.5 ± 15.3	27.6 ± 3.7	25.4 ± 4.8	66.4 ± 10.1
Overall Means ± SD	176.2 ± 10.6	85.0 ± 16.9	27.2 ± 3.6	28.0 ± 6.5	60.8 ± 13.4
January 2019 Data Collection
2	174.6	95.5	31.3	29.6	67.2
4	163	78.9	29.7	40.5	46.9
5	194.6	129.6	34.2	33.6	86
6	181	96.8	29.5	22.4	75.1
7	178.8	74	23.1	20.8	50.7
8	178.5	82.2	25.8	25.5	61.3
9	192.4	84.5	22.8	21.1	66.7
10	170.2	62.9	21.7	23.3	48.2
12	180.4	106	32.6	36.8	66.9
13	169.5	75.5	26.3	25.5	56.3
14	162.4	64.6	24.5	35	42
15	180.5	91.9	28.2	31	63.4
16	186.8	80.2	23	20.4	63.9
17	183.4	102	30.3	26.6	74.9
18	174.6	100.5	33	28.2	72.1
21	183.2	94.2	28.1	25.3	70.3
23	161.2	62.3	24	34.8	40.6
24	162.9	71.4	26.9	38	44.2
28	161.5	72.6	27.8	37.3	45.5
29	154.8	46.7	19.5	26.8	34.2
25	176.2	80.2	25.8	26.4	59
Female Means ± SD	161.0 ± 3.1	66.1 ± 11.2	25.4 ± 3.6	35.4 ± 4.7	42.2 ± 4.6
Male Means ± SD	180.3 ± 7.2	90.4 ± 16.2	27.7 ± 4.1	26.4 ± 4.8	65.5 ± 9.8
Overall Means ± SD	174.8 ± 10.9	83.5 ± 18.5	27.1 ± 4.0	29.0 ± 6.2	58.8 ± 13.7

Table 2. Summary of the cardiometabolic biomarker measures for the herders from the October 2018 and January 2019 data collections. The age and sex categories have been removed to protect participant confidentiality

Participant	Fasting glucose (mmol/L)	Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	HDL cholesterol (mmol/L)	LDL cholesterol (mmol/L)	Triglycerides (mmol/L)
October 2018 Data Collection
4	5.8	5.11	1.13	-	-
5	5.9	7.38	1.84	-	-
7	4.3	6.95	1.82	-	-
8	6.3	5.34	0.85	-	-
9	5.8	8.18	1.78	-	-
10	5	5.69	2.27	-	-
11	4	3.73	1.74	-	-
12	4	9.58	1.07	-	-
13	4	4.38	1.87	-	-
14	4.5	4.76	1.19	-	-
15	4.2	5.15	1.08	-	-
16	4.8	5.67	1.59	-	-
17	4.8	5.66	1.62	-	-
18	5.7	3.06	2.22	-	-
19	4.8	4.24	2.07	-	-
20	6.3	5.66	2.29	-	-
21	4.8	4.54	1.37	-	-
22	5.1	4.95	1.66	-	-
23	4.0	5.11	2.31	-	-
24	4.0	3.86	1.26	-	-
Female Means ± SD	4.7 ± 0.8	4.76 ± 0.52	1.51 ± 0.49	-	-
Male Means ± SD	5.0 ± 0.8	5.68 ± 1.73	1.70 ± 0.45	-	-
Overall Means ± SD	4.9 ± 0.8	5.45 ± 1.56	1.65 ± 0.45	-	-
January 2019 Data Collection
2	5.2	5.82	1.24	-	-
4	6.7	6.45	0.95	-	-
5	5.9	4.73	1.34	-	-
6	3.7	4.69	1.56	2.6	0.86
7	4.4	6.71	2.31	4.5	0.68
8	4.9	5.04	0.97	3.5	1.63
9	3.3	8.65	2.08	4.5	1.44
10	4.4	5.23	1.75	4.8	0.98
12	4.6	3.33	1.14	3.5	0.63
13	6.8	3.06	1.56	2.9	0.59
14	2.0	4.18	1.85	2.8	1.18
15	1.1	5.75	0.83	3.3	2.95
16	4.1	4.07	1.14	2.6	0.70
17	5.1	5.18	1.65	2.8	0.61
18	5.2	3.23	1.43	1.4	0.70
21	4.7	4.41	1.49	1.8	0.62
23	5.5	4.53	2.31	1.6	1.15
24	2.6	3.82	1.61	1.7	0.48
28	4.5	5.10	1.55	2.3	1.18
29	6.0	4.40	1.67	1.6	1.39
25	5.5	7.34	2.14	3.3	0.64
Female Means ± SD	4.6 ± 1.9	4.74 ± 0.93	1.66 ± 0.44	2.0 ± 0.54	1.08 ± 0.35
Male Means ± SD	4.6 ± 1.30	5.15 ± 1.55	1.51 ± 0.43	3.2 ± 1.0	1.00 ± 0.67
Overall Means ± SD	4.6 ± 1.4	5.03 ± 1.39	1.55 ± 0.43	2.9 ± 1.05	1.02 ± 0.59

Table 3. Prevalence of overweight, obesity, and cardiometabolic biomarkers outside of the recommended range for the pooled sample

Measure	Females	Males	Overall
Normal BMI (>25)	57.1%	27.8%	29.3%
Overweight BMI (>25, <30)	42.9%	44.4%	48.8%
Obese BMI (>30)	0%	27.8%	21.9%
Elevated Total Cholesterol (>5.0 mmol/L)	28.6%	61.1%	52.0%
Low HDL Cholesterol (<1.2 mmol/L)	14.3%	16.7%	16.0%
Elevated LDL Cholesterol (>3.0 mmol/L)	0%	38.9%	28.0%
Elevated Triglycerides (>1.7 mmol/L)	0%	5.6%	4.0%
Elevated Glucose (>6.0 mmol/L)	14.3%	5.6%	12.0%

Figure 1. These are the pooled values for glucose (N = 25), corrected total cholesterol (N = 25), corrected HDL-cholesterol (N = 25), LDL-cholesterol (N = 18), and triglycerides (N = 18). The red box and lines indicate the normal, healthy values for each measure. For HDL cholesterol, only the normal value for females is presented (>1.2 nnmol/L). The health value for males in Finland is >1.0 nnmol/L.

Figure 2. Females are indicated in purple circles and males in organe X’s. a & b: Regression of the pooled corrected total cholesterol levels (N = 25)against body mass index (A) and body fat percentage (B). Neither BMI nor body fat percentage were a significant predictor of corrected total cholesterol levels. c & d: Regression of the pooled glucose levels (N = 25) against body mass index (C) and body fat percentage (D). Neither BMI nor body fat percentage were a significant predictor of glucose levels. e & f: Regression of the pooled corrected HDL cholesterol levels (N = 25) against body mass index (E) and body fat percentage (F). Neither BMI nor body fat percentage were a significant predictor of corrected HDL cholesterol levels. g & h: Regression of LDL cholesterol levels (N = 18) against body mass index (G) and body fat percentage (H). Neither BMI nor body fat percentage were a significant predictor of LDL cholesterol levels, though sex was a significant predictor. i & j: Regression of the triglyceride levels (N = 18) against body mass index (I) and body fat percentage (J). Neither BMI nor body fat percentage were a significant predictor of triglyceride levels.

Figure 2. Continued.

Figure 2. Continued.

Figure 2. Continued.

Figure 2. Continued.

Table 4. Results of the multiple regression models for the relationship between BMI, body adiposity, and the cardiometabolic biomarkers of corrected total cholesterol, glucose, corrected HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides

Dependent variables	Independent variables	β	Standard error	t	p	F	R^2	Adjusted R^2	p
Corrected
Cholesterol	Constant	3.258	2.236	1.457	0.161	1.105	0.225	0.021	0.390
	Age	−0.001	0.027	−0.02	0.984
	Sex	2.384	1.422	1.677	0.11
	BMI	−0.379	0.213	−1.776	0.092
	Fat-Free Mass	0.058	0.057	1.026	0.318
	Body Fat%	0.249	0.122	2.042	0.055
Glucose
	Constant	3.666	1.872	1.959	0.065	0.613	0.139	−0.088	0.691
	Age	0.034	0.023	1.462	0.16
	Sex	−1.102	1.19	−0.926	0.366
	BMI	0.068	0.179	0.379	0.709
	Fat-Free Mass	−0.004	0.048	−0.086	0.932
	Body Fat%	−0.039	0.102	−0.383	0.706
Corrected HDL
Cholesterol	Constant	3.007	0.734	4.097	0.001	1.117	0.227	0.024	0.385
	Age	0.004	0.009	0.409	0.687
	Sex	−0.166	0.467	−0.355	0.726
	BMI	0.011	0.07	0.157	0.877
	Fat-Free Mass	−0.01	0.019	−0.546	0.592
	Body Fat%	−0.039	0.04	−0.984	0.337
LDL Cholesterol
	Constant	4.922	1.601	3.074	0.01	4.731	0.633	0.523	0.013
	Age	−0.019	0.019	−0.986	0.344
	Sex	3.686	0.966	3.816	0.002
	BMI	−0.218	0.138	−1.581	0.14
	Fat-Free Mass	−0.021	0.041	−0.517	0.614
	Body Fat%	0.111	0.076	1.462	0.169
Triglycerides
	Constant	1.931	1.199	1.61	0.133	1.655	0.408	0.162	0.220
	Age	−0.032	0.015	−2.205	0.05
	Sex	1.17	0.723	1.617	0.132
	BMI	−0.123	0.103	−1.197	0.254
	Fat-Free Mass	0.018	0.031	0.594	0.563
	Body Fat%	0.065	0.057	1.15	0.273

Data Availability Statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.