Subcutaneous fat remodelling in Southeast Asian infants and children

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 R2 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.