Sunday, February 19, 2012
Exhibit Hall A-B1 (VCC West Building)
Ultrasonography measurements are used in clinical practice to provide an index of visceral fat accumulation in adults, but so far this has not been done in children. This study was conducted to seek correlations between ultrasonographic data and various anthropometric parameters in children. Anthropometry, body composition, and abdominal fat thickness were evaluated in 408 children (199 boys and 209 girls) aged 3 to 6 years. The subjects were divided into four groups (boys and girls, 3-4 yr and 5-6 yr). Furthermore, the subjects were classified into three groups on the basis of BMI percentiles. Abdominal fat thickness (maximum preperitoneal fat thickness, Pmax; minimum subcutaneous fat thickness, Smin) was measured by ultrasonography (ALOKA, SSD-500). In both sexes, significant relationships between various indices of abdominal fat distribution and Pmax were demonstrated: abdominal circumference (p<0.001), weight/height*WHR (p<0.001), and percentage body fat (p<0.001). In addition, it was found that the number of overweight children (>90th BMI percentile) was significantly higher than that of low-weight children (<10th) and reference children (25-75th) with Smin and Pmax. These findings suggest that preperitoneal fat thickness or visceral fat begins to accumulate in early childhood. Therefore, measurement of preperitoneal fat thickness by ultrasonography may be an effective approach for evaluating visceral fat accumulation in children.