Fat in the Body

Fat is an unwelcome visitor.

There is always fat in our body. It is only when there is too much of it that we are entitled to talk of being overweight. It acts at the same time as a storeroom for our bodies and as a protective cushion.

Fat makes a covering on the surface of our bodies. It is about a quarter of an inch thick under the lower layer of the skin, where it fills the gaps in the cellular spaces or subcutaneous tissue. It gives the skin its appearance of fullness, and ensures suppleness of the body's movements. It is thickest in certain places where, in some overweight people, it forms veritable rolls of fat, usually on the stomach, the breasts, the thighs, hips and the buttocks. In the normal body, the layer at these places should be no more than a half-inch thick. If the person is overweight, the fat spreads everywhere, but will be at its maximum in these areas.

Fat surrounds many of our organs. It is around the heart, for instance. Where there is overweight, it accumulates there to such an extent that it may compress it, hinder its movements and cause pain. It will weaken this organ all the more when, as so often happens, it doesn't just hinder its movements, but infiltrates it and reduces its muscular strength. Fat is especially found in the stomach and in the peritoneum, where numerous folds protect our abdominal organs and bring them what they need to function. Some may, however, develop into a layer of fat (epiploic fold).

The kidneys are also surrounded (when the sac in which they are contained) by a cushion of fat which protects them against prolepsis or rupture, a not uncommon occurrence in thin people.

On the other hand, fat is rarely found around the lungs, the brain, the genital organs and the spleen. Fat in general, apart from the aesthetic objections and the troubles, and illnesses to which it can give rise, has the grave disadvantage of making surgical operations (and particularly abdominal surgery) very difficult.