Integumentary / VISUAL EXPLAINER
Is All Abdominal Fat in the Same Compartment?
Abdominal fat occupies different compartments. Subcutaneous fat lies under skin, whereas selected deeper depots are associated with internal organs beyond the abdominal muscle wall.
READ THE IMAGE
What the illustration shows
English poster asks whether all abdominal fat is in the same compartment. An anterior-up transverse schematic shows skin, yellow subcutaneous fat, red muscle wall and selected deeper yellow mesenteric fat among pink bowel loops. Labels identify skin, superficial fat, muscle wall, selected visceral depot, bowel and anterior/posterior. Two lower panels enlarge the skin-fat-muscle order and deeper fat beside bowel. Thickness varies; not to scale. Navy background, gold AllHumanBody.com and complete slogan. Organ forms are simplified, not a diagnostic slice or exhaustive compartment map.
How to interpret this poster
- Selected depots, not an exhaustive map; not all deep fat is intraperitoneal. No body-composition measurement, risk grading or weight-loss advice.
- AI-assisted educational illustration; not physician certification, microscopy, a diagnosis or individualized medical advice.
- Fine annotations need enlargement; the full description provides an accessible text alternative.
- Display the full uncropped illustration; do not trim titles, legends or boundary annotations.
AI-assisted educational illustration, adapted into web-sized images without changing its composition. This is general education, not an individual diagnosis or treatment recommendation.
EVIDENCE / CONTEXT
Sources and what they support
- NIH NIDDK research summary ↗
Basic anatomical locations of subcutaneous and visceral white adipose tissue only; no mouse thermogenesis extrapolation.
- Peer-reviewed adipose tissue review abstract ↗
Distinct subcutaneous and abdominal visceral adipose compartments.
Evidence correspondence is limited to the abstract.