According to new research, visceral fat may help clinicians identify cardiovascular risk in young individuals with obesity.

The data were obtained from cross-sectional measurements among 605 youth, in the age group of 10-23 years, at Cincinnati Children′s Hospital Medical Center, Ohio. There were 236 individuals with healthy weight, 224 obese individuals, and 145 individuals with type 2 diabetes in the study.

There was a link between visceral fat and arterial stiffness in severely overweight children and young adults, independent of body mass index (BMI). The association was not seen in individuals of healthy weight, probably because the visceral fat stores in these people are too small to have a detectable impact on cardiovascular health, stated researchers in Pediatric Obesity… (Medscape)