Background: The impact of
abdominal obesity (AO) on plasma
fatty acid changes and cardiometabolic risk in children who are obese and
overweight has rarely been investigated. This study determined whether plasma
fatty acid composition differed between children with AO and those without AO and its relationship with metabolic risk, particularly in the obese and
overweight groups. Methods: A total of 181 schoolchildren (aged 7-18 years) were included. Anthropometric and biochemical data and plasma
fatty acid profiles were analyzed, and the indices of desaturase activity were estimated. Children were categorized based on their
body weight and AO status. A continuous metabolic risk score was calculated using the sum of the z-scores of metabolic variables. A one-way analysis of variance test was used to compare the composition ratio of
fatty acids between children with and without AO in the obese and
overweight groups and normal-weight controls. Pearson analysis was also used to explore significant
fatty acid and desaturase indicators associated with metabolic abnormalities. Results: Children who were obese and
overweight (N = 126) displayed higher dihomo-γ-
linolenic acid (20:3n-6) and γ-
linolenic acid (18:3n-6) proportions than normal-weight controls (N = 55), but lower
heptadecanoic acid (17:0) proportion, regardless of the AO status of each individual. Obese and
overweight children with AO (N = 89), but not their non-AO counterparts (N = 37), exhibited a significantly higher proportion of
palmitoleic acid (16:1n-7) than the remaining study groups. Pearson analysis showed that high proportions of
palmitoleic acid and dihomo-γ-
linolenic acid, as well as increased
stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase-1(16) and delta-6 desaturase and decreased delta-5 desaturase activities, are strongly correlated with weight-height ratio, homeostasis model of assessment values for
insulin resistance,
hypertriglyceridemia, and continuous metabolic risk scores. Conclusion: Higher
palmitoleic acid and dihomo-γ-
linolenic acid proportions, as well as increased
stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase-1(16) and delta-6 desaturase and decreased delta-5 desaturase activities are associated with AO and increased metabolic risk in children who are obese and
overweight.