Visceral fat assessment in over nourished children by ultrasonography and its relation to anthropometry.

OBJECTIVE: To measure visceral fat (VF) in over nourished children (6-15 y) by ultrasonography (USG) and to find relation between anthropometric measurements (AM) and VF in these children. This case series included 113 children of 6-15 y with Body Mass Index (BMI) >85th centile who attended the nutrition clinic of a tertiary care centre in rural Kerala from January 2009 through June 2010. METHODS: After recording the base line demographic parameters and anthropometric measurements, VF was assessed by USG. Relation between VF and anthropometric measurements were assessed by correlation. Measurements which showed significant positive correlation were further analyzed by linear regression. RESULTS: The mean total VF was 145.63 (SD = 25.37) mm. Total VF increased with age. Significant positive correlation was found for weight, height, BMI, hip circumference (HC) and waist circumferences (WC). WC showed maximum correlation. The best predictor of VF was WC. CONCLUSIONS: The total VF in over nourished children increases with age. Even though the most important predictor of visceral fat is WC, it has a low predictive power.