Fat distribution in human body

The term fat distribution refers to the relative amounts of fat in the primary compartments where dispose tissue and fat are stored in the body.

Fat is present, in a higher or lesser degree in almost every anatomical compartment, inside parenchymatous organs, muscle and breasts and it is stored mainly in the omentum (intra-abdominal fat); this is the so-called ‘central’ fat and it is the most involved in metabolism variations, increasing in obesity and reducing in the case of weight loss.

There are some anatomical districts where adipose fat are present and these structures devoted to produce more protection in the regions of attrition: around kidneys, inside joint, underneath the breasts, deep in face, inside the hand, and over the os pubis. This fat almost no influence on body silhouette and a few on face traits.

In terms of fat percentage, males reach peak values during early adolescence and then show a decrease throughout adolescent growth, probably due to a rapid accumulation in lean body mass, whereas females, after an initial decline, show a continuous increase in fat percentage throughout their eighteenth year.

With aging, body fat in men slowly increases from 18% in those 18 to 25 years of age to 36% in those 65 to 85 years old; in women, a gradual increase from 33% to 45% is found in similar age groups.

Distribution of body fat is important in evaluating the risk of disease. Excess body fat around the abdomen is associated with higher disease risk than is excess fat around hips and thighs.
Fat distribution in human body