Kjellberg E, et al. - In this investigation, researchers studied how volumes of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in seven-year-old children were associated with metabolic risk factors. A total of 81 Swedish birth cohort children were studied. In 53 children with normal weight and 28 children with overweight or obesity, anthropometric data, fasting insulin, glucose, cholesterol, and blood pressure were collected at 6 years of age, and insulin resistance was estimated. At age 7, VAT and SAT were quantified by magnetic resonance imaging. Investigators found that metabolic risk factors were more strongly associated with SAT than with VAT. There was a stronger association in girls between VAT and metabolic risk factors. The key finding of this study was that 63% of the fasting insulin variance in girls accounted for adjusted SAT. The best anthropometric marker for insulin resistance was the waist circumference. Overall, the investigators concluded that insulin resistance in children as young as seven years of age was related to abdominal adipose tissue and its associated metabolic risk factors.