Pancreatic Fat in Youth Linked to Increased Heart and Metabolic Risks
A new study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul has linked higher pancreatic fat content in children and adolescents with obesity to increased heart and metabolic risk factors. These factors include higher body mass index (BMI), elevated diastolic blood pressure, increased abdominal and liver fat, and insulin resistance.
Senior author Jens-Christian Holm stated the study highlights the importance of addressing pancreatic fat content in young individuals due to its potential link to significant heart and metabolic health risks, identifying it as an important area for early detection and obesity management.
Conducted by researchers from The Children's Obesity Clinic, Centre for Obesity Management, Holbæk University Hospital in Denmark, this research is among the first to examine the impact of pancreatic fat on young people's cardiometabolic health.
Understanding the Context
Globally, approximately 25 million children and 35 million adolescents had metabolic syndrome in 2020. Metabolic syndrome encompasses risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, such as abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and elevated fasting plasma glucose.
In obese individuals, adipose tissue can expand into organs like the pancreas, skeletal muscle, and liver. While a strong link exists between high pancreatic fat and health issues like metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure in adults, data on this association in obese children and adolescents has been limited.
The Study: Methodology and Participants
Researchers utilized magnetic resonance spectroscopy, a non-invasive imaging technique, to measure fat content in the pancreas, liver, and abdomen.
The study included 283 young individuals aged 7-19, who were referred for obesity treatment at Holbæk University Hospital between February 2020 and September 2025. Participants also underwent physical measurements and clinical evaluations. The analysis adjusted for age and sex.
Key Findings: Pancreatic Fat and Cardiometabolic Markers
The analysis indicated that in young people with severe obesity, higher pancreatic fat levels corresponded with elevated BMI, waist-to-height ratio, diastolic blood pressure, liver and visceral fat content, and C-peptide levels. C-peptide is a recognized marker of insulin resistance. These are all factors that increase cardiometabolic health risks.
However, the study did not confirm associations between pancreatic fat percentage and systolic blood pressure, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, fasting glucose, alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or LDL, HDL, or total cholesterol.
Implications and Future Directions
Dr. Holm suggested that measuring pancreatic fat content could serve as a tool to identify young individuals at higher risk of cardiometabolic issues, who may require more intensive treatment.
Future research will explore whether reducing pancreatic fat can also lower cardiometabolic risk.
Study Limitations
The study has limitations. Its cross-sectional design prevents establishing causal relationships and may be subject to confounding or reverse causation errors. Additionally, the participant pool primarily consisted of European Caucasian children and adolescents, limiting the generalizability of the findings to other ethnic groups. Larger studies are needed to confirm and expand upon these results.