ABSTRACT
【Objective】 To investigate the association of normal weight obesity （NWO） with carotid atherosclerosis （CAS） and peripheral arterial stiffness （PAS） in persons received physical examination. 【Methods】 A total of 1 894 people with normal BMI （18.5-23.9 kg/m2） were consecutively enrolled for this study. All these people had completed body fat measurement， carotid artery ultrasound examination and peripheral arterial stiffness detection. Then they were divided into control group， CAS group， PAS group， and CAS + PAS group according to the test results mentioned above. Clinical data were compared between different groups to assess the baseline situation. Besides， Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine independent risk factors for atherosclerosis. 【Results】 The proportion of NWO in CAS group， PAS group， and CAS + PAS group was significantly higher than that in normal group （P<0.05）. Univariate analysis results showed that NWO was correlated with greater risks of both CAS and PAS （P<0.05）. However， multiple factors analysis suggested that NWO was not associated with PAS， but with CAS （OR=1.286， 95% CI： 1.032-1.603， P<0.05）. 【Conclusion】 NWO is closely related to the occurrence of CAS and may be an independent risk factor for CAS. Attention should be paid to the body fat mass of the NWO population. Early intervention is needed to prevent the occurrence of CAS in these people.