Plasma lipid peroxide levels in an urbanized Micronesian population--Nauru.

Plasma lipid peroxide levels of 419 inhabitants of Nauru, where a high prevalence of obesity is occurring, were measured. The plasma lipid peroxide level was 4.03 +/- 1.94 nmol/ml in subjects 20-24 years and rose to a peak of 5.78 +/- 3.21 in subjects 35-44 years. The values obtained with Nauruans are significantly higher than those of healthy Japanese people and the peak found in the former was shifted to a younger age than in the Japanese.