Visceral fat in prepubertal children: Influence of obesity, anthropometry, ethnicity, gender, diet, and growth.

Visceral fat, or intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) lies deep within the abdominal cavity and can only be directly quantified with imaging techniques. IAAT has been detected in children as young as 5 years of age. IAAT generally increases in proportion with general fatness, but the relationship between IAAT and total body fat is complex; in children, a major portion of the variance in IAAT is independent of total body fat. The waist-to-hip ratio and the trunk:extremity skinfold ratio are not good indices of IAAT in children, and central skinfolds and waist circumference alone are highly correlated with IAAT as well as subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (r = 0.85-0.92). African-American children have less IAAT than Caucasian children, and gender differences in IAAT become more apparent after adolescence. Preliminary evidence in children suggests that IAAT may have a stronger influence on cardiovascular risk factors than dietary fat intake. Preliminary evidence in children also suggests that acquisition of IAAT during growth is a linear process that occurs in proportion to general increases in body fat. The study of the regulation of IAAT acquisition during childhood development and its relationship with long-term disease risk is in its early infancy and further studies are required. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 11:201-207, 1999. Copyright 1999 Wiley-Liss, Inc.