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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Aerobic fitness and visceral adipose tissue in children
Richard J Winsley1, Neil Armstrong, Andrew R Middlebrooke
1Children's Health & Exercise Research Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK. r.j.winsley@exeter.ac.uk
Aim:
To determine the relationship between aerobic fitness (peak VO2) and the volume of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in children.
Methods:
Participants were 30 males (13.7+/-0.5 y) and 22 females (13.5+/-0.5 y). Peak VO2 was determined using a continuous, incremental treadmill protocol to exhaustion. Abdominal VAT volume was measured by magnetic resonance imaging using multiple slices from vertebral levels L1-L5. Subcutaneous body fat measure was calculated as the sum of seven skinfolds (sigma7SKF).
Results:
Females had significantly (p < or = 0.05) more VAT than males (1035+/-717.3 vs 678.6+/-361.5 cm3); however, male peak VO2 was higher (215+/-34 vs 182+/-20 ml/kg(0.61)/min). VAT was significantly (p < or = 0.05) negatively correlated with peak VO2 in both males (r = - 0.43) and females (r = - 0.45). Subcutaneous body fatness was significantly correlated with VAT in both males (r = 0.74) and females (r = 0.72), and was the single strongest determinant of VAT.
Conclusion:
Aerobic fitness is significantly inversely related to VAT, but subcutaneous body fatness is the single strongest determinant of VAT in children aged 13-14 y.
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