Obesity is a chronic（慢性的） condition associated with increased morbidity（病态的） and mortality（死亡率） and is a risk factor for a number of other diseases including type 2 diabetes（2型糖尿病）and cardiovascular disease（心血管疾病）. Obesity confers（授予、给予） an enormous（巨大的极大的庞大的）, costly burden on both individuals and public health more broadly. Body fat distribution is a heritable （可遗传的）trait and a well‐established（已发表/为大家接受的） predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes（ 不良代谢结果）. Body fat distribution is distinct from overall obesity in measurement, but studies of body fat distribution can yield insights into the risk factors for and causes of overall obesity. Sexual（生殖的两性的） dimorphism（二态性） in body fat distribution is present throughout life. Though sexual dimorphism is subtle（微妙的，细微的） in early stages of life, it is attenuated（细小的，稀薄的） in puberty（青春期，开花期） and during menopause（更年期绝经期，50岁之后的）. This phenomenon could be, at least in part, due to the influence of sex hormones on the trait.
Findings from recent large genome‐wide association studies for various measures of body fat distribution (including waist‐to‐hip（腰部到臀部） ratio, hip or waist circumference（腰围）, trunk fat percentage（躯干脂肪百分比）, and the ratio of android（男性样的） and gynoid（雌性） fat percentage) emphasize the strong sexual dimorphism in the genetic regulation of fat distribution traits. Importantly, sexual dimorphism is not observed for overall obesity (as assessed by BMI or total fat percentage). Notably, the genetic loci associated to body fat distribution, and that show sexual dimorphism, are located near genes that are expressed in adipose tissues and/or adipose cells. Considering the epidemiological（流行病学的） and genetic evidence, sexual dimorphism is a prominent（显著的;突出的） feature of body fat distribution. Research that specifically focuses on sexual dimorphism in fat distribution can provide novel insights into human physiology（生理学） and into the development of obesity（肥胖） and its comorbidities（并发症）, as well as yield biological clues that will aid in the improvement of disease prevention and treatment.
肥胖是一种缓慢变化的状态，过渡的肥胖是病态的，使人们饱受病痛（如2型糖尿病、心血管疾病等）的折磨，甚至极大提高人的死亡率；此外，肥胖还给个人和社会带来巨大的经济负担。（为了应对肥胖带来的这些“负担”，学者已经做过很多的研究）我们已经知道体脂的分布是一种可遗传的特征，是反应不良代谢现象的“警报器”。体脂分布在衡量（计算方法）上与全身肥胖是绝然不同的，但是，去解读（或衡量）体脂分布能使我们窥探导致全身肥胖的可能因素。尽管，早期性别决定对体脂分布几乎没有影响，但是在后期（青春期、更年期等）对体脂分布还是存在一定（微弱的）影响。这种现象至少在一定程度上说明，人体脂的分布跟性别是相关的（互受影响）。
最近，大量在全基因组层面对体脂分布（腰臀比例，腰围臀围，各部分/时期体脂比例等）变化的研究，有力的证明了性别遗传基因调控了脂肪的部分特征。这里要指出，对两性状态研究并不是为了反应全身脂肪特征（BMI或总体脂肪比例）；尤其，与体脂分布相关的基因也与两性特征相关，同时其附近基因多表达与脂肪组织或细胞中。因此，考虑到病理学和遗传性方面的发现，两性差异就成了体脂分布的一个显著特征。那些致力于两性与体脂分布的研究为我们对肥胖导致的生理变化及并发症的发生打开了大门，也推动着相关疾病的预防和治疗。
Sexual dimorphism in body shape and fat distribution can be observed beginning at birth: male infants are typically born with larger head circumference and longer body length. In early childhood development, males remain typically heavier and taller than females. In puberty, sexual dimorphism is more marked. Females gain in fat mass while males gain in lean muscle mass. In early adulthood, fat deposits in women typically collect around the hips and thighs while in men, fat deposits collect around the inner organs and waist. After menopause in women, the body shape often shifts to a more android (square) body shape.
（注：非专业翻译）
文章地址：https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5291139/
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