Adipose tissue cellularity in obese school girls before and after dietary treatment

Mean fat cell size and adipose tissue cellularity were studied in 18 grossly obese girls and 17 age-matched reference girls. The obese girls had a combined hypertrophic-hyperplastic obesity with increments in fat cell size as well as in fat cell number. High insulin levels were found in the obese girls and the levels correlated with fat cell size. The obese girls had higher serum triglyceride levels than the reference group but the cholesterol levels were similar. After dietary treatment and advice for increased physical activity of the obese group, both groups were re-investigated with respect to adipose tissue cellularity after 1.5 to 1.9 years. Fat cell number was unchanged in the reference group while the obese girls in spite of treatment increased their cell number significantly. The obese girls who were most successfully treated had the lowest increase in fat cell number. The results suggest that treatment of childhood obesity may be of importance for the prevention of obesity later in life.