OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship of intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) with body composition and anthropometry in children. DESIGN: Cross-sectional data analysis. SUBJECTS: 113 healty Caucasian and African-American, pre-pubertal children aged 4 ± 10 y. MEASUREMENTS: IAAT and SAAT by single slice computed tomography at the level of the umbilicus; total fat and trunk fat by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA); anthropometric evaluation by skinfolds and circumferences. RESULTS: IAAT was most strongly correlated with abdominal skinfold (r 0.88) and trunk fat by DEXA (r 0.87), and SAAT with trunk fat by DEXA (r 0.96), total fat by DEXA (r 0.93) and waist circumference (r 0.93). In stepwise regression, IAAT was best predicted by trunk fat from DEXA, total fat from DEXA, and abdominal skinfold (R 2 0.85); SAAT was best predicted by trunk fat from DEXA, body weight, waist circumference and abdominal skinfold (R 2 0.96). In the absence of DEXA data, IAAT was best predicted by abdominal skinfold, ethnicity and subscapular skinfold (R 2 0.82) and SAAT was best predicted by waist circumference subscapular skinfold, height and abdominal skinfold (R 2 0.92). The prediction equations with and without DEXA were successfully cross-validated in an independent sample of 12 additional measures of IAAT and SAAT. CONCLUSION: These data provide useful information that can help in the interpretation of anthropometric data with regard to body fat distribution. IAAT and SAAT can be accurately estimated in Caucasian and African-American prepubertal children from anthropometry with and without the availability of DEXA data.

The objectives of this study were 1) to examine interrelations among intraabdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) and other adiposity indexes, 2) to identify a visceral obesity index that is independent of total adiposity, and 3) to examine sex and ethnic (white compared with African American) differences in IAAT. We measured IAAT and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) using computed tomography, and total fat mass (FM) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in a heterogenous sample of 101 children aged 7.7 +/- 1.6 y weighing 33.2 +/- 12.6 kg. IAAT was highly variable (mean +/- SE; 31 +/- 22 cm2; range: 7-107 cm2) and related to SAAT (r = 0.87) and FM (r = 0.81). The regression slope between IAAT and SAAT was significantly lower in African Americans (0.17 +/- 0.02 cm2 IATT/cm2 SAAT) than in whites (0.23 +/- 0.02 cm2 IAAT/cm2 SAAT). Within each ethnic group there was no effect of sex on IAAT adjusted for SAAT (mean +/- SE: 40.2 +/- 3.1 and 43.2 +/- 2.7 cm2 in white boys and girls, respectively; 26.4 +/- 1.9 and 25.1 +/- 1.6 cm2 in African American boys and girls, respectively). We conclude that in children 1) there is wide variation in visceral fatness; 2) IAAT relative to SAAT is an index of visceral fat, independent of FM, allowing examination of the unique effects of IAAT; and 3) the relative distribution of adipose tissue in the intraabdominal compared with the subcutaneous abdominal region is significantly lower in African Americans than in whites.

The objectives of this paper were to: a) evaluate the accuracy and precision of previously published pediatric body composition prediction equations and b) develop additional prediction equations from a large, heterogeneous group of Caucasian (n 133) and African-American (n 69) children. The combined cohort of 202 children included a wide range of ages (4.0 ± 10.9 y), weights (14.0 ± 70.8 kg), fat mass (FM: 1.2 ± 28.5 kg) and percent body fat (% body fat: 6.2 ± 49.6%). Skinfold measurements were obtained using a Lange caliper and body fat was measured with a Lunar DPX-L densitometer. The previously published equations of Slaughter et al and Goran et al did not accurately predict body fat. The entire cohort was randomly divided into two sub-groups for purposes of deriving and cross-validating a new prediction equation. In stepwise regression analysis in the development group (n 135), weight, triceps skinfold, gender, ethnicity and abdominal skinfold estimated FM measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) with a model R 2 of 0.95. The new prediction equation was cross-validated in the control group (n 67) and each ethnic and gender subgroup. We conclude that a) the equations of Slaughter et al and Goran et al did not accurately predict FM in a heterogeneous group of children and b) a new anthropometric prediction equation is proposed that may provide accurate estimates of FM in both Caucasian and African-American children aged 4 ± 10 y with a wide range of FM and body composition.

The objective of this study was to cross-calibrate measurements of body composition by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) with chemical analysis of carcasses of pigs in the pediatric range of body weight. Eighteen pigs (25.5 +/- 7.0 kg; 9.9-32.8% body fat) were scanned in duplicate by using DXA with a Lunar DPX-L densitometer in the pediatric medium and adult fast-detail scan modes. Pigs were then killed and their carcasses analyzed completely. Carcass lean and fat contents were highly correlated with DXA measurement in both scan modes (Pearson r values > 0.98). For lean mass, the relation between carcass content and DXA measures was not significantly different from the line of identity in the adult mode, but was in the pediatric mode. For fat mass, the relations between carcass content and DXA measures were significantly different from the line of identity in both the adult and pediatric modes. In duplicate scans, the reliability of DXA measures of lean mass and fat mass was excellent in both scan modes. Because neither the adult nor the pediatric scan mode provided accurate measures of fat and lean mass, we derived specific correction factors to improve the measurement of total fat and lean compartments, thereby calibrating the Lunar DPX-L to the laboratory standard of carcass analysis in pigs.

OBJECTIVE: In the postmenopausal years, women develop a central pattern of fat distribution and an increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD). The possibility that these events are related has not been extensively investigated. The object of the present study was to test the hypotheses that, 1) menopause-related differences in lipids are associated with greater estimated intra-abdominal adiposity, and 2) the relationship between individual adipose depots and plasma lipids differs with menopausal status. DESIGN: Cross-sectional. SUBJECTS: 141 healthy pre-and postmenopausal women aged 35 ± 65 y. MEASUREMENTS: Total body fat by hydrodensitometry was used as an index of whole-body adiposity, the sum of ®ve central skinfold measurements as an index of subcutaneous upper-body adiposity, and estimated intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAF) as an index of visceral adiposity. Fasting plasma concentrations of total cholesterol (total-C), highand low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C, LDL-C), and triglycerides were used as indices of CVD risk. RESULTS: Postmenopausal women had greater total body fat (P`0.001), summed central skinfolds (P`0.01), estimated IAF (P`0.001), higher plasma concentrations of total-C (P`0.001), LDL-C (P`0.001) and triglycerides (P`0.001), than premenopausal women. The relationship between central skinfolds and LDL-C differed with menopausal status, being signi®cant in pre-but not postmenopausal women. Adjustment for estimated IAF with analysis of covariance decreased menopause-related differences in levels of total-C, LDL-C and triglycerides by approx 40 ± 70%. CONCLUSION: These observations suggest that, 1) menopause-related changes in IAF may adversely affect the plasma lipid pro®le, and 2) menopausal status affects the relationship between central subcutaneous fat and LDL-C. Studies with measured IAF are needed to con®rm present results.