Visceral adipose tissue is more strongly associated with adverse metabolic risk profiles than subcutaneous fat, highlighting its role as a unique pathogenic fat depot.
Although both SAT and VAT are correlated with metabolic risk factors, VAT remains more strongly associated with an adverse metabolic risk profile even after accounting for standard anthropometric indexes. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized role of visceral fat as a unique, pathogenic fat depot. Measurement of VAT may provide a more complete understanding of metabolic risk associated with variation in fat distribution.
Fox et al. (Tue,) studied this question.