Swedish scientists measuring fat cells to determine if there is an association with weight gain or loss have reported:
- large fat cells may help with decreases in body weight, body- mass index (BMI) and total body fat;
- certain types of small fat cells can cause increases in body weight, BMI and total body fat.
Their study, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice in Italy, concluded there is a significant correlation between the size of fat cells and future weight issues – they discovered individuals with larger fat cells tend to lose weight over time while those with smaller fat cells are more likely to gain weight – and hence measuring a person’s fat cells could help with weight management.
The researchers at Karolinska Institutet (a medical university) measured cell volume and number of fat cells in abdominal fat from 260 participants – average age 44 and average body mass index (BMI) 32 – tracked over 15 years. At the study’s end, they measured body weight, BMI and total body fat.
Many large fat cells were associated with decreased body weight, BMI and total body fat; having fewer but small fat cells correlated with increases in all three measurements, whether the person had obesity or not.
The association between fat cell volume and changes in body weight, BMI and total body fat remained significant when the researchers adjusted for age, physical activity, length of follow-up and gender.
However, study co-author Professor Peter Arner noted that while small fat cells might increase the risk of gaining weight, they may also present some advantages: ‘It is well known people with small fat cells have a better metabolic profile than people who are the same weight but have large fat cells. This means if someone with small fat cells does gain weight, it may not raise their risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure as much as if they had large fat cells.’
Importantly, scientists in the study concluded fat cell volume ‘strongly influenced long-term changes in body weight’, noted medicalnewstoday.com.
They said this finding opens new possibilities for early intervention in weight management: measuring fat cell volume early in life, they noted, could help individuals ‘avoid weight issues later in life, offering hope in the battle against obesity’.
Professor Arner summed up: ‘It could be of great clinical value to have information about fat cell size before starting a weight management program. If it is the case that those with large fat cells find it easier to lose weight, those with smaller cells could be given extra support.’
