In obese adults, subcutaneous adipose tissue exhibits a significantly lower fatty acid uptake rate per unit mass than visceral adipose tissue, while contributing a greater proportion of total whole-body fatty acid uptake due to its larger total mass, demonstrating regional heterogeneity in fatty acid storage capacity.

In obese people, fat under the skin cannot store fatty acids efficiently because the enzymes that turn fatty acids into stored fat are less active. This causes fatty acids to build up in the blood and get pushed into belly fat, which stores them more efficiently. The excess fatty acids also flood muscle cells, where they are burned for energy instead of being stored. Because there is so much fat under the skin, it still ends up storing more total fat than belly fat, even though each gram of it is worse at storing fat.