Research
Energy balance
Visceral fat, rather than total body fat or subcutaneous fat, is the primary anatomical parameter linked to the severity of sleep apnoea.
Don't just look at the scale. If you have sleep apnoea, focus on reducing visceral fat (belly fat) through diet and exercise, as this specific type of fat is the strongest anatomical driver of breathing interruptions during sleep.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Importantly, visceral, but not SC fat, was significantly correlated with indexes of sleep apnoea (rxy = 0.70; P < 0.01 for A/HI...)
Why this rating
CT scanning provided direct measurement of fat distribution, showing significant correlation with AHI.
Source
Metabolic disturbances in obesity versus sleep apnoea: the importance of visceral obesity and insulin resistance
Alexandros N. Vgontzas et al. · Journal of Internal Medicine · 2003
DOI 10.1046/j.1365-2796.2003.01177.x
narrative_reviewCited 321×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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