Measuring abdominal adiposity in 6 to 7-year-old children

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Both intra-abdominal adipose tissue (IAAT) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAAT) are associated with cardiovascular risk factors, even in childhood. Currently, the gold standard in assessing IAAT and SAAT is computed tomography (CT), which is not widely applicable. The aim of this study was to estimate abdominal fat using anthropometry, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) and ultrasound, and compare these estimates with the amounts of IAAT and SAAT determined by CT in 6 to 7-year-old children. Subjects/Methods: In 31 healthy children, weight, height, circumferences, skinfolds, DEXA, abdominal ultrasound and CT were performed. Measurements were compared by simple correlations and receiver operating characteristic analyses. Results: Total abdominal fat on CT did not differ between boys and girls (86.5 versus 89.8 cm 3 , P ¼ 0.84). Boys had a higher IAAT to SAAT ratio than girls (0.56 versus 0.37, P ¼ 0.03). The sum of supra-iliac and abdominal skinfolds was most strongly correlated with SAAT on CT (r ¼ 0.93, Po0.001), and the abdominal skinfold with IAAT on CT (r ¼ 0.72, Po0.001). Diagnosis of subcutaneous abdominal and intra-abdominal adiposity can also be made using skinfolds. The associations with circumferences, body mass index and DEXA were less pronounced; however, these techniques can also be used to classify children according to SAAT and IAAT. Ultrasound can be used to diagnose subcutaneous adiposity, although it was not superior to skinfold measurements. Conclusion: Skinfold measurements are the best non-invasive technique in predicting subcutaneous as well as intra-abdominal fat in our population of 6 to 7-year-old children.

Sonographic assessment of abdominal fat distribution during the first year of infancy

“…As SFT refers to the measurement of SC fat, this explains why stronger correlation was observed with SC fat than PP fat. Our results are in line with the observations from Liem et al (27), who showed in 6-to 7-y-old healthy children that the sum of suprailiac and abdominal skinfolds was most strongly associated with SC abdominal AT, assessed by CT, followed by abdominal skinfolds, BMI, suprailiac skinfold, hip, and waist circumferences.…”

Effect of obesity intervention programs on adipokines, insulin resistance, lipid profile, and low-grade inflammation in 3- to 5-y-old children

“…Moreover, it has been demonstrated in 6-y-old children that bioimpedance analysis is reliable in assessing fat mass (23). Furthermore, the use of ultrasound to measure abdominal adiposity has been validated in adults (24) and proven its reliability in assessing subcutaneous abdominal fat in 6-to 7-y-old children (25).…”

Effect of prematurity on fat mass distribution and blood pressure at prepubertal age: a follow-up study

“…La tecnica plicometrica, utilizzata per valutare la determinazione della massa grassa, è una metodica non invasiva e che ben si correla con i valori ottenuti con metodiche più sofisticate, quali la TAC, la DEXA (dualenergy X-ray absorbimetry) e l'ultrasonografia. 25 Risultati in accordo col nostro studio sono stati riscontrati da Rawlings et al 26 e Peralta -Carcelen et al, 27 che hanno osservato che la composizione corporea nei bambini nati pretermine, valutata mediante DEXA a un anno di età e durante l'infanzia, era simile a quella dei bambini nati a termine. Al contrario, in uno studio di Fewtrell et al 28 la massa grassa, valutata mediante DEXA e plicometria in bambini da 8 a 12 anni di età, risultava essere significativamente inferiore nei bambini nati pretermine rispetto ai bambini nati a termine.…”