And the effect of HIIT seems better than AE. However, the effect of RE and CE on visceral fat was not statistically significant. For different age groups, the effect of the exercise on visceral fat consumption was significant in adolescents 12—18 years old and young adults 18—24 years old with overweight or obesity, but not in children 6—12 years old.

In addition, the results derived from the gender-based subgroup analysis illustrated that exercise interventions could decrease visceral fat in both males and females. And the effect of the exercise was more significant in males than that in females.

The results demonstrated that AE and HIIT had a significant effect on the reduction of visceral fat in young individuals with obesity. For AE, it has been suggested that AE can increase the secretion of catecholamines, which are regarded as the lipolytic hormone, by inducing sympathetic nervousness tension Arner, ; Monda et al.

Some studies found that the lipolytic effect of catecholamines on VAT was even more pronounced than the abdominal subcutaneous adipose Ostman et al. This may partly explain that, in our meta-analysis, AE is helpful for young individuals to lose visceral fat. Another effective exercise intervention identified in this meta-analysis was HIIT.

On the one hand, it has been shown that HIIT also can stimulate visceral adipose lipolysis by facilitating catecholamine secretion Lonnqvist et al. On the other hand, HIIT can suppress appetite, which may decrease the energy intake and reduce visceral fat accumulation Boutcher, ; Panissa et al.

Moreover, we found that the effect of HIIT seemed even better than that of AE. This may be partly explained by that the higher intensity of HIIT rather than the moderate intensity of AE has been illustrated to be related to the release of more hormones e.

However, an original study found a similar effect of 6-week moderate-intensity continuous training and HIIT on visceral fat size when the energy expenditure of exercise bout was equal Gerosa-Neto et al.

This meta-analysis indicated that RE and CE had non-effective influence on decreasing visceral fat for young individuals with obesity. For RE, the non-significant effect of the exercise may be due to the different proportions of the energy supply system and different energy substrates Moghetti et al.

It is known that the energy of the RE is mainly supplied by the anaerobic energy system. Consequently, the adenosine triphosphate ATP , creatine phosphate CP , and muscle glycogen rather than the fat are mainly consumed to provide the energy during the resistance training.

For CE, it is widely documented that the long-term and low-intensity AE is easier to mobilize fat for the energy supply Turcotte et al. However, when the AE is combined with the RE, the decrease in the proportion of AE during the exercise period may illustrate the reason why CE failed to burn visceral fat in young individuals with overweight or obesity.

Our meta-analysis revealed that exercise interventions could effectively decrease the visceral fat in adolescents aged 12—18 years old and young adults aged 18—24 years old, but not in 6—year-old children. For adolescents and young adults, the significant effect of the visceral fat decline could be interpreted as that they may have a better understanding of the technical movements during the exercise and the level of the exercise completion is higher.

For children, a study suggested that children including obese or overweight children had less visceral fat in the abdomen area Staiano et al.

Hence, the exercise may have a more obvious effect on decreasing subcutaneous fat rather than visceral fat in low-aged obese children. For subjects in different gender groups, we found that exercise interventions were more helpful to reduce visceral fat in young males than that in young females with obesity or overweight.

This could be explained by the gender differences in hormone levels. Various studies have indicated that the estrogen can promote the proliferation of adipocyte precursors to produce new mature fat cells in the visceral region Tchoukalova et al.

Conversely, during puberty, boys can secrete more androgens that stimulate lipolysis than girls Blouin et al. Therefore, the dominance of androgens in boys has more tendency for the visceral fat removal. Additionally, we speculated that males were more compliant and interested in the exercise than females.

So, females might not well finish the exercise in experiments due to a lack of interest in the exercise. On the other hand, males might spend more time exercising in their daily lives out of experiments.

In contrast, females often conducted sedentary behavior. Win et al. Although this study demonstrated the outstanding effects of AE and HIIT on visceral fat in young individuals with obesity, there are some limitations. First, it is worth mentioning that the outcomes of this meta-analysis are restricted to the effects of various exercise types on the visceral fat of young people with obesity.

Hence, the findings of our study do not apply to other benefits of exercise interventions for obese or overweight young individuals, such as the improved cardiorespiratory fitness, the increased muscle mass.

The exercise interventions that have no apparent effects on reducing visceral fat in young individuals with obesity may have other health benefits.

Second, except for age and gender, the effect of exercise interventions on visceral fat may vary from the degree of overweight i. But several covered studies in our meta-analysis provided a mixed sample including overweight and obese individuals. This prevented us from extracting the independent data points from the mixed BMI or percentage of body fat group.

Third, our study focused on comparing the experimental group exercise with the control group no exercise. Thus, this meta-analysis did not consider the effect of diet on visceral fat.

Future meta-analyses can investigate the interaction effect of the diet and the exercise on visceral fat. Although this review and meta-analysis is systematic and rigorous, we did not include unpublished articles. This may affect the comprehensiveness of this study.

This review and meta-analysis indicates that exercise interventions are effective in reducing visceral fat in young people with overweight and obesity, especially in adolescents 12—18 years old and young adults 18—24 years old. Among different exercise types, AE and HIIT have a significant effect on decreasing visceral fat and HIIT appears to be the most effective exercise type.

The effectiveness of exercise interventions on the decline of visceral fat is more significant in boys than that in girls. Conceptualization, XH and HR; methodology, RW and XZ; formal analysis, RW; investigation, HZ and YY; resources, YC; writing—original draft preparation, RW; writing—review and editing, XH and RW; visualization, RW; supervision, XH.

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for publication. This study was funded by The Ministry of education of Humanities and Social Science project grant number: 22YJC The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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A man with a waistline that measures 40 inches or more or a woman whose waistline measures 35 inches or more is likely to have stores of visceral fat.

Men and women who fall into these categories might want to make an appointment with a doctor to have levels of visceral fat measured, discuss potential risks, and get advice on how to make health and lifestyle changes to reduce visceral fat levels.

Some doctors may carry out some blood and other tests, or refer individuals to a nutritionist or dietitian. Visceral fat is fat that we cannot see, so it is not always easy to know whether a person has an excess of it.

Because the associated health risks can be severe, it is essential for those who suspect their visceral fat levels are high to seek advice from a health professional. Usually, it is possible to avoid high levels of visceral fat by leading a healthy and active lifestyle.

Those who do store dangerous amounts of visceral fat can reduce their levels by making positive changes to their lifestyle. Changes include eating a nutritious, low-fat diet, increasing the amount of exercise, and lowering stress levels.

It is not possible to spot-reduce back fat. If you lead a sedentary life you risk building up large amounts of visceral fat in your body. WHAT IS VISCERAL FAT? Researchers say bariatric surgery can help with weight loss, but it can also help improve cognitive functions including memory. Researchers say running can help with weight loss but only in the short term.

This form of exercise does have other health benefits from maintaining…. Researchers people with diabetes who also have obesity or other weight issues can lower their risk of chronic kidney disease with regular moderate to….

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Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. What is the best way to get rid of visceral fat? Medically reviewed by Daniel Bubnis, M. Fast facts on visceral fat: Excess visceral fat can cause serious health problems.

Cardiovascular disease. Several studies have documented this effect. For example, a large study of European women ages 45 to 79 concluded that those with the biggest waists and those with the largest waists in relation to their hip size had more than double the risk of developing heart disease.

The risk was still nearly double even after adjustment for several other risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and BMI. Higher visceral-fat volume also has a deleterious impact on several other heart disease risk factors. It's associated with higher blood pressure, blood sugar levels and triglyceride levels, and lower levels of HDL good cholesterol.

Taken together, these changes, known as metabolic syndrome, create a serious risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente found that people in their early 40s with the highest levels of abdominal fat, compared with those who had the least abdominal fat at that age, were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia including Alzheimer's disease by their mids to early 80s.

Dementia was not associated with increased thigh size. The risks were highest for women who were both large-waisted and overweight or obese. The investigators believe that belly fat raises the risk of asthma more than other poundage because it has inflammatory effects throughout the body, including in the airways.

Breast cancer. A combined analysis of several studies found that premenopausal women with abdominal obesity the largest waist size in proportion to their height were at greater risk for breast cancer.

Large waists were also linked to breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, but that effect was not significant once BMI was taken into account. Colorectal cancer. People with the most visceral fat have three times the risk of developing colorectal adenomas precancerous polyps than those with the least visceral fat.

The relationship was found after many other risks were accounted for. The researchers also confirmed that adenomatous polyps in the colon are associated with insulin resistance, which may be the mechanism that increases the cancer risk.

Where you tend to gain fat depends on your genes, your hormones, your age, your birth weight smaller babies more readily add belly fat later in life , and whether you've had children women who have given birth tend to develop more visceral fat than women who haven't.

As young adults, women on average have less visceral fat than men, but that changes with menopause. You can't change your birth weight or your genes, and you can't hold off menopause.

But there are several ways you can minimize the accumulation of visceral fat. The good news is that because it's more readily metabolized into fatty acids, it responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs.

Here are some approaches that may help:. Keep moving. Exercise can help reduce your waist circumference. Even if you don't lose weight, you lose visceral belly fat and gain muscle mass. Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days, such as brisk walking or bicycling at a casual pace.

Also create opportunities to add motion to routine tasks. For example, park farther from your destination and walk the rest of the way, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and stand while you talk on the phone. Studies have shown that you can help trim visceral fat or prevent its growth with both aerobic activity such as brisk walking and strength training exercising with weights.

Spot exercises, such as sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles but won't get at visceral fat. Exercise can also help keep fat from coming back. Eat right. Choose a balanced diet that helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Avoid products that seem to encourage belly fat deposition, especially simple sugars like fructose-sweetened foods and beverages. Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.

Get your sleep. Too little is bad. A five-year study found that adults under age 40 who slept five hours or less a night accumulated significantly more visceral fat. But too much isn't good, either — young adults who slept more than eight hours also added visceral fat.

This relationship wasn't found in people over age

The study was published online Oct. Unlike subcutaneous fat that lies just under the skin and is noticeable, visceral fat lies in the abdominal cavity under the abdominal muscle.

Visceral fat is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat because it often surrounds vital organs. The more visceral fat one has, the greater is the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

In the study, UAB exercise physiologist Gary Hunter, Ph. All of the participants were placed on an calorie-a-day diet and lost an average 24 pounds. Researchers then measured total fat, abdominal subcutaneous fat and visceral fat for each participant. Afterward, participants in the two exercise groups were asked to continue exercising 40 minutes twice a week for one year.

After a year, the study's participants were divided into five groups: those who maintained aerobic exercise training, those who stopped aerobic training, those who maintained their resistance training, those who stopped resistance training and those who were never placed on an exercise regimen.

Visceral fat makes more of the proteins called cytokines, which can trigger low-level inflammation, a risk factor for heart disease and other chronic conditions. It also produces a precursor to angiotensin, a protein that causes blood vessels to constrict and blood pressure to rise.

A tape measure is your best home option for keeping tabs on visceral fat. Measure your waistline at the level of the navel — not at the narrowest part of the torso — and always measure in the same place. According to official guidelines, the bottom of the tape measure should be level with the top of the right hip bone, or ilium — see the illustration — at the point where the ilium intersects a line dropped vertically from the center of the armpit.

Don't suck in your gut or pull the tape tight enough to compress the area. In women, a waist circumference of 35 inches or larger is generally considered a sign of excess visceral fat, but that may not apply if your overall body size is large.

Rather than focus on a single reading or absolute cut-off, keep an eye on whether your waist is growing are your pants getting snug at the waist? That should give you a good idea of whether you're gaining unhealthy visceral fat.

Visceral fat can be measured in a variety of ways. CT scans and full-body MRIs are the most precise, but they are expensive and rarely available, so investigators often use estimates based on waist circumference or waist size in proportion to height see "Gut check".

To ensure that they're not just measuring overall obesity, researchers also check whether a person's waist circumference is higher than average for her or his body mass index BMI.

Cardiovascular disease. Several studies have documented this effect. For example, a large study of European women ages 45 to 79 concluded that those with the biggest waists and those with the largest waists in relation to their hip size had more than double the risk of developing heart disease.

The risk was still nearly double even after adjustment for several other risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and BMI. Higher visceral-fat volume also has a deleterious impact on several other heart disease risk factors.

It's associated with higher blood pressure, blood sugar levels and triglyceride levels, and lower levels of HDL good cholesterol. Taken together, these changes, known as metabolic syndrome, create a serious risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente found that people in their early 40s with the highest levels of abdominal fat, compared with those who had the least abdominal fat at that age, were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia including Alzheimer's disease by their mids to early 80s.

Dementia was not associated with increased thigh size. The risks were highest for women who were both large-waisted and overweight or obese. The investigators believe that belly fat raises the risk of asthma more than other poundage because it has inflammatory effects throughout the body, including in the airways.

Breast cancer. A combined analysis of several studies found that premenopausal women with abdominal obesity the largest waist size in proportion to their height were at greater risk for breast cancer. Large waists were also linked to breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, but that effect was not significant once BMI was taken into account.

Colorectal cancer. People with the most visceral fat have three times the risk of developing colorectal adenomas precancerous polyps than those with the least visceral fat. The relationship was found after many other risks were accounted for. The researchers also confirmed that adenomatous polyps in the colon are associated with insulin resistance, which may be the mechanism that increases the cancer risk.

Where you tend to gain fat depends on your genes, your hormones, your age, your birth weight smaller babies more readily add belly fat later in life , and whether you've had children women who have given birth tend to develop more visceral fat than women who haven't.

As young adults, women on average have less visceral fat than men, but that changes with menopause. You can't change your birth weight or your genes, and you can't hold off menopause. But there are several ways you can minimize the accumulation of visceral fat.

The good news is that because it's more readily metabolized into fatty acids, it responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs. Here are some approaches that may help:.

Keep moving. Exercise can help reduce your waist circumference. Even if you don't lose weight, you lose visceral belly fat and gain muscle mass. Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days, such as brisk walking or bicycling at a casual pace.

Also create opportunities to add motion to routine tasks. For example, park farther from your destination and walk the rest of the way, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and stand while you talk on the phone.

Studies have shown that you can help trim visceral fat or prevent its growth with both aerobic activity such as brisk walking and strength training exercising with weights. Spot exercises, such as sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles but won't get at visceral fat. Exercise can also help keep fat from coming back.

Eat right. Choose a balanced diet that helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Avoid products that seem to encourage belly fat deposition, especially simple sugars like fructose-sweetened foods and beverages. Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.

Get your sleep. Too little is bad. A five-year study found that adults under age 40 who slept five hours or less a night accumulated significantly more visceral fat. But too much isn't good, either — young adults who slept more than eight hours also added visceral fat.

This relationship wasn't found in people over age Mind your mood. Middle-aged women who show more hostility and had more depressive symptoms tend to have more visceral fat — but not more subcutaneous fat.

Forget the quick fix. Liposuction for cosmetic fat removal doesn't reach inside the abdominal wall. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Successful weight loss depends largely on becoming more aware of your behaviors and starting to change them.

Instead of relying on willpower, this process demands skill power. This Special Health Report, Lose Weight and Keep It Off , offers a range of solutions that have worked for many people and can be tailored to your needs.