Good Fat Prevalent In Which Child?

"Good Fat" Is Often Most Prevalent In Lean, Thin Children

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and Children's Hospital Boston have shown that a type of "good fat" known as brown fat occurs in varying amounts in children, increasing until puberty and then declining, and is most active in thinner, leaner children.

 

The study used PET imaging data to document children's amounts and activity of brown fat, which, unlike white fat, burns energy instead of storing it. Results were published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

 

"Increasing the amount of brown fat in children may be an effective approach at combating the ever increasing rate of obesity and diabetes in children," reported investigators at Joslin.

 

In 2009, the research team demonstrated in The New England Journal
of Medicine for the first time that brown fat is metabolically active in adult humans. Previously, it was thought that brown fat was present only in babies and children. Their study showed it was found in between 3 and 7.5 percent of adults, with higher rates among women.

 

In this new study, the researchers reviewed PET scans that had been conducted on 172 children (ages 5 to 21) at Children's Hospital Boston. Active brown fat was detected in 44 percent of the children, with the rate about the same for girls and boys. Children aged 13 to 15 had the highest percentage of detectable brown fat and the highest brown fat activity. In addition, body mass index (BMI) was correlated inversely with brown fat activity, revealing that the thinnest, leanest children had the highest brown fat activity.

 

Interestingly, while the 2009 study of adults showed brown fat was more active in cold weather, in keeping with its role of burning energy to generate heat, the new study in children showed outdoor temperature had no effect on brown fat activity.

 

The increase in brown fat activity from childhood to adolescence and its inverse correlation with obesity suggest brown fat may play a prominent
role in pediatric metabolism, energy balance and weight regulation, the researchers said.

 

"We believe that the ability to non-invasively evaluate brown fat activity in vivo with PET imaging provides a better understanding of its prominent role in pediatric physiology, and may possibly provide insights into the treatment of childhood obesity," explained the researchers from Children's Hospital program in Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

 

Another study from 2010 (Joslin) identified cells in laboratory subjects that can be triggered to transform into brown fat.

 

"We might be able to combat the obesity and diabetes epidemics if we find safe ways of increasing brown fat activity," the researchers said. "This might be an additional tool in the fight."

 

However, it is not known whether the relationship between BMI and brown fat is that children have more brown fat because they are thin or if having more brown fat causes children to be thin.

 

They said. "But we do know that brown fat is a core component of pediatric and likely adult metabolism."

 

The study was supported by grants from the Eli Lilly Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

 

Story Source: Joslin Diabetes Center.

 

Children's Hospital Boston; and of Massachusetts General Hospital.

 

Journal Reference: Pediatric Brown Adipose Tissue: Detection, Epidemiology, and Differences from Adults. The Journal of Pediatrics, August 2011

 

Joslin Diabetes Center (2011, August 11). 'Good fat' most prevalent in thin children.

 

This article is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Contact your doctor or healthcare professional for medical and nutritional consultation.