Adipose tissue facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Adipose tissue
Adipose tissue is one of the main types of connective tissue

Adipose tissue, also known as body fat or simply fat, is a special type of connective tissue found in your body. It's mostly made of cells called adipocytes. These cells are like tiny storage units for energy.

Adipose tissue starts from cells called preadipocytes. Its main job is to store energy from the food you eat. This energy is kept as lipids, which are a type of fat. Adipose tissue also helps to cushion your body and keep you warm.

In recent years, scientists have learned that adipose tissue is more than just a storage place. It acts like an important organ that produces hormones. Some of these hormones include leptin, estrogen, resistin, and cytokine.

There are two main types of adipose tissue:

• White adipose tissue (WAT) stores energy.
• Brown adipose tissue (BAT) creates body heat.

The way adipose tissue forms is partly controlled by a special gene called the adipose gene. Brown adipose tissue was first described by a Swiss scientist named Conrad Gessner in 1551.

Images for kids

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  Distribution of white adipose in the human body

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  The obese mouse on the left has large stores of adipose tissue. It is unable to produce the hormone leptin. This causes the mouse to be hungry and eat more, which results in obesity. For comparison, a mouse with a normal amount of adipose tissue is shown on the right.

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  Abdominal obesity in men ("beer belly")

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  Micro-anatomy of subcutaneous fat

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  Brown fat cell

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  Diagrammatic sectional view of the skin (magnified).

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  White adipose tissue in paraffin section

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  Electronic instrument of body fat meter

See also

In Spanish: Tejido adiposo para niños