Body mass index and ethnicity as determinants of brown adipose tissue function as measured by thermal imaging in healthy children

Abstract

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) function is greatest in children but the main factors influencing it remain to be determined. Our study was, therefore, designed to determine whether body mass index (BMI) centile influenced skin temperature overlying BAT depots in the supraclavicular region (SCR) of healthy children. Infrared thermography was used to assess SCR skin temperature at baseline and following exposure to a mild cool stimulus (single hand immersion in water at 20.1°C) over a period of 5 minutes in young children aged 6–11 years (n=55). There was a clear difference in SCR temperature between age matched healthy subjects who were either of low, or high, BMI. The primary indicator of baseline and stimulated SCR temperature was BMI centile for which there was an inverse relationship (R2 = 0.26; P = 0.009). Ethnicity was also a significant predictor of SCR temperature. We have demonstrated an inverse relationship between the temperature of the SCR, co‐locating with the primary region of BAT, and BMI centile. Future studies aimed at determining the primary factors regulating BAT function in healthy children could be used to prevent excess white adipose tissue deposition in early life.