Subcutaneous fat remodelling in Southeast Asian infants and children

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Abstract
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.