FAT DISTRIBUTION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS - THE INFLUENCE OF SEX AND HORMONES

A significant proportion of the morbidity related to obesity is now re cognized to be related to the regional distribution of fat. The advent of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry has facilitated the assessment of body composition in a number of investigations on body fat. From curr ent data, including the authors' own study of trunk and leg fat in 335 children and young adults, it is evident that gender differences for total body fat, percentage of body fat and distribution of fat occur a fter the pubertal years. Males develop a distribution of fat which fav ours central deposition of fat irrespective of their total body fat - a distribution that is, unfortunately, associated with a number of adv erse implications on health. Furthermore, this tendency to increasing abdominal fat is independent of adipose tissue mass. Hormonal regulato rs of adipose tissue, including growth hormone which is already known to increase free fatty acids and decrease fat cell mass, need to be st udied to account for these gender differences.