Infrared thermography in the assessment of brown and white adipose tissue in children with different nutritional states.

Supraclavicular temperature (a proxy for brown adipose tissue activity) negatively correlated with multiple BIA-derived body composition variables.

• Supraclavicular temperature showed negative correlations with total body water, fat-free mass, and body fat percentage as measured by bioelectrical impedance analysis.
• The significance level was set at p ≤ 0.05 and correlations were analyzed using Spearman's method.
• This suggests that higher BAT activity (higher supraclavicular temperature) is associated with lower adiposity measures.

Infrared thermography showed inverse correlations between brown adipose tissue temperature and multiple anthropometric measures.

• BAT temperature (supraclavicular region) was inversely correlated with BMI, neck circumference (NC), waist circumference (WC), and hip circumference (HC).
• These inverse correlations underscore IRT's potential in obesity risk analysis in children.
• Anthropometric variables assessed included neck, waist, and hip circumferences, as well as waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and conicity index (CI).

Significant differences in assessed variables were found between eutrophic and obese groups but not all group comparisons were significant.

• Of 160 initial participants, 116 children were included in the final analysis (eutrophic: N = 58; overweight: N = 26; obese: N = 32).
• Significant differences were noted specifically between the eutrophic and obese groups.
• Groups were compared using Pearson's Chi-square for categorical variables, Kruskal-Wallis, and ANOVA tests for quantitative data.
• Normality was checked by the Shapiro-Wilk test and homogeneity by Levene's test.

Infrared thermography offers quantitative assessments of brown adipose tissue activity and may estimate body fat percentages.

• IRT was used to measure skin temperature at the supraclavicular region (BAT proxy) and abdominal region (white adipose tissue proxy).
• The authors suggest IRT is relevant for monitoring adipose tissue function and the metabolic effects of physical exercise.
• Body composition was also assessed via bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to compare with IRT findings.
• The study was cross-sectional and observational in design.

Children with obesity had different nutritional and body composition profiles compared to eutrophic children, as assessed by multiple measurement tools.

• The study population included children classified as eutrophic (N = 58), overweight (N = 26), and obese (N = 32) out of 116 analyzed participants.
• Body composition was assessed via bioelectrical impedance (BIA), IRT, and anthropometric measurements including NC, WC, HC, WHR, and conicity index.
• 44 of the initial 160 participants were excluded from the final analysis.