Why kids don’t get as cold as adults do

Video Description

There's a special kind of fat that kids have more of. Subscribe and turn on notifications 🔔 so you don't miss any videos: http://goo.gl/0bsAjO 55 degrees in the summer feels colder than 55 degrees in the winter. And 55 degrees as an adult likely feels colder than 55 degrees as a kid. But it’s not just a feeling. It all has to do with how our bodies use fat — specifically brown fat, a lesser-known type of fat that can produce roughly 300 times more heat than any other tissue in the body. Brown fat isn’t the type of fat that adds to our weight (that’s white fat). Brown fat has the sole purpose of being burnt for heating the body, and it’s extremely effective at that. It only appears in specific parts of the body: around the neck, spine, heart, and kidneys. (It clumps around major blood vessels, in order to warm the blood as it passes through the body.) But brown fat is temporary and can adapt to pressure in a similar way to muscles. Check out the latest Vox video to learn more! Note: The headline on this piece has been updated. Previous headline: Why you get colder as you get older Make sure you never miss behind the scenes content in the Vox Video newsletter, sign up here: http://vox.com/video-newsletter Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out http://www.vox.com Support Vox's reporting with a one-time or recurring contribution: http://vox.com/contribute-now Shop the Vox merch store: http://vox.com/store Watch our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/IZONyE Follow Vox on Facebook: http://facebook.com/vox Follow Vox on Twitter: http://twitter.com/voxdotcom Follow Vox on TikTok: http://tiktok.com/@voxdotcom