Premium
Subcutaneous fat remodelling in Southeast Asian infants and children
Author(s) -
Bailey Stephen M.,
Gershoff Stanley N.,
McGandy Robert B.,
dasuta Amorn,
Tantiwongse Puangtong
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1330680111
Subject(s) - trunk , subcutaneous fat , medicine , physiology , analysis of variance , endocrinology , fat distribution , anthropometry , obesity , biology , adipose tissue , ecology
Longitudinal data on 1,048 Thai children were evaluated for evidence of subcutaneous fat remodelling. Fat distribution, as defined by 100 (triceps/[triceps + subscapular]), was more pronounced, in the limbs during infancy but shifted toward the trunk thereafter. Subsequent stepwise regression analysis indicated that biological age–as measured by Gruelich‐Pyle bone age–and weight together explained between 0.8% and 14.5% of variance in fat distribution, with generally larger R 2 values over age and for males. Relationships were curvilinear, with sex differences in slope. Path analysis supported the model that weight was a major causal agent primarily after infancy, whereas biological age had a small influence both in infancy and in late childhood. These findings indicate that trunk fat deposition is a normal feature of childhood. They also suggest that hypotheses which associate elevated trunk fatness with disorders of glucose metabolism are invalid for younger children.