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Abdominal vs buttock adipose fat: relationships with children's serum lipid levels

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 56, pages 1081–1086 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To explore the extent to which the reported unfavorable fatty acid content of abdominal depots in adults is also true for children. In addition, the present study aims to assess the relative importance of abdominal vs buttock adipose tissue fat in the prediction of serum lipid levels in children.

Design: A cross-sectional study of children from the island of Crete.

Setting: The study was conducted between October 1999 and January 2000 in the Municipality of St Nikolas, Crete.

Subjects: A total of 475 children (aged 11–18) participated in the study. Data were obtained on children's anthropometry, serum lipids, physical activity and abdominal and buttock adipose tissue fatty acids. In total 138 children (aged 11–16) had complete data in all of the variables studied.

Results: Abdominal depots have elevated proportions of saturated fatty acids (P<0.001) and trans fatty acids (P<0.001), and reduced proportions of monounsaturated (P<0.001) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (P<0.001) in comparison to buttock depots. Buttock adipose tissue monounsaturated fat correlated negatively to serum LDL-C (P<0.05). Abdominal adipose tissue polyunsaturated fat had negative correlations with serum total cholesterol (P<0.05) and LDL-C (P<0.05). Regression analyses indicated that children's serum total cholesterol (P<0.05) and LDL-C (P<0.05) were inversely related to abdominal adipose tissue polyunsaturated fat. Body mass index was positively related to serum triglycerides (P<0.01) and LDL-C (P<0.01), and negatively to serum HDL-C (P<0.05). Age was negatively related to serum HDL-C (P<0.05).

Conclusions: It appears that, similar to adults, children's fatty acid composition of abdominal adipose tissue is less favorable than that of the buttock. Abdominal depots have elevated proportions of saturated fatty acids and reduced proportions of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat in comparison to buttock depots. Moreover, children's abdominal depots appear to have higher trans fatty acid contents than buttock depots. Children's adipose polyunsaturated fat, a biomarker of long-term polyunsaturated fatty acid intake, is inversely related to serum total cholesterol and LDL-C. It appears that abdominal adipose tissue fatty acids are more strongly related to serum lipids than buttock adipose tissue fatty acids. This may be attributed to the reported higher lipolysis rates in abdominal as opposed to buttock depots.

Sponsorship: Funding was provided by the Municipality of St Nikolas, Crete, Greece.

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Acknowledgements

The study was made possible with the contribution of: E Zervaki, I Apostolaki, T Anagnostopoulou, Michael Kiriakakis and Christos Hatzis.

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Author notes

  1. A Kafatos: Guarantor: A Kafatos.

  2. G Mamalakis, A Kafatos, Y Manios, N Kalogeropoulos and N Andrikopoulos: Contributors: GM and AK contributed to the study design and wrote the paper. YM was involved in the field study and NK and NA carried out the laboratory work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social Medicine Preventive Medicine and Nutrition, School of Medicine, University of Crete, Iraklion, Crete, Greece

    G Mamalakis, A Kafatos & Y Manios

  2. Department of Science of Dietetics-Nutrition, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece

    N Kalogeropoulos & N Andrikopoulos

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  1. G Mamalakis
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Correspondence to A Kafatos.

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Mamalakis, G., Kafatos, A., Manios, Y. et al. Abdominal vs buttock adipose fat: relationships with children's serum lipid levels. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 1081–1086 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601438

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