Fat distribution in children and adolescents--the influence of sex and hormones.

A significant proportion of the morbidity related to obesity is now recognized to be related to the regional distribution of fat. The advent of dual energy X-ray absorptiometry has facilitated the assessment of body composition in a number of investigations on body fat. From current data, including the authors' own study of trunk and leg fat in 335 children and young adults, it is evident that gender differences for total body fat, percentage of body fat and distribution of fat occur after the pubertal years. Males develop a distribution of fat which favours central deposition of fat irrespective of their total body fat--a distribution that is, unfortunately, associated with a number of adverse implications on health. Furthermore, this tendency to increasing abdominal fat is independent of adipose tissue mass. Hormonal regulators of adipose tissue, including growth hormone which is already known to increase free fatty acids and decrease fat cell mass, need to be studied to account for these gender differences.