interesting: https://www.upworthy.com/kids-warmer-than-adults?mibextid=Zxz2cZ
As a mom and former science teacher, I’m constantly amazed by the natural phenomena that surround us. Take, for instance, the yearly winter spectacle of children playing outside with seemingly insufficient clothing. No, they’re not impervious superheroes (though they might believe otherwise), but rather, they’re blessed with a remarkable biological mechanism that helps them stay warm. The answer, quite interestingly, lies in a type of fat—brown fat.
The white winter days often host an age-old debate: parents insisting on proper winter attire and children, especially preteens and teenagers, dismissing it with an impervious stride out in the frosty air. The surprising part? They’re not as cold as we think they might be. In fact, they might just know their bodies’ thermal comfort levels better than us adults!
Our bodies store two types of fat: white fat and brown fat. White fat is our body’s primary energy reservoir, the reserve we tap into for our everyday energy needs. But when it comes to producing heat, it’s not as efficient as its counterpart, brown fat. So, what’s special about brown fat? Brown fat cells, while smaller than white fat cells, are loaded with mitochondria, the cell’s powerhouses. This brown fat, located strategically around major blood vessels, warms the blood, which then circulates throughout the body, acting as an internal heating system. This clever system works behind the scenes to keep us warm without us even realizing it.
But here’s where things get interesting. Brown fat is critical for the survival of newborns, and we are born, as infants with quite a bit of brown fat, particularly, between our shoulders. Also, it plays an important role in helping hibernating animals stay warm while they sleep, as they primarily use white fat for fuel. As we grow older, our proportion of brown fat decreases, which is one reason adults often feel colder than children. This is also why your insistence on that hat for your 8-year-old might often end in a stalemate (or a “lost” hat).
However, it’s important to remember that the perception of cold is a complex interplay of factors and brown fat is just one piece of the puzzle. While this extra heating power might make kids seem more resistant to the cold, it doesn’t mean they should be allowed to run around underdressed in freezing temperatures. Protection from extreme cold and wind is still essential to prevent frostbite and hypothermia.
The wonders of biology are awe-inspiring. The next time you’re about to start the winter clothing argument, remember the marvelous mechanism of brown fat keeping your child toasty (and the bears snoozing through the winter). Then hand them their coat anyway, but maybe one that’s not quite what you would need.
If you’ve gotten this far, Vox recently did a video on this topic that you might find interesting.