Science to practice: good fat, bad fat--does location matter?

A technique that allows rapid noninvasive imaging of abdominal fat without the potentially harmful effects of ionizing radiation would be useful in diagnosing overweight and obese children and in developing effective strategies for weight management. Siegel et al describe a quick, safe, and reproducible single-section MR method for quantifying subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat and its distribution in preadolescents and adolescents. Although larger studies are needed, their study results confirm the use of T1-weighted MR imaging at a single level for estimating adipose tissue volumes and distribution.