Body lipids of guinea pigs exposed to different dietary fats from mid-gestation to 3 months of age.

Pregnant guinea pigs were fed one of three diets: a control low-fat diet, or a high-fat diet containing maize oil or beef dripping. At birth some animals were killed and the remainder reared on the same diet as their mothers till 3 months old. Body weight, weight of various adipose tissue depots, size and number of fat cells were measured. Animals fed high-fat diets were fatter than control animals. On all diets females were fatter than males. In both instances the increase in adipose tissue mass was attributable to enlargement of fat cells. The composition of dietary fat had little influence on the cellularity of adipose tissue.