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Multiple Choice

Where in the digestive system does adipose tissue deposit to give the characteristic "beer belly"?

The key idea is where visceral fat tends to accumulate to form a noticeable belly. The greater omentum is a large, fatty apron of peritoneum that hangs from the greater curvature of the stomach and drapes over the intestines. It stores a lot of adipose tissue, and in obesity this fat layer thickens, producing the characteristic "beer belly." The other structures—lesser omentum (a thin connection between stomach, liver, and duodenum), the falciform ligament (anchors the liver to the front wall), and the mesentery (attaches the intestines to the abdominal wall)—are not the primary sites of this prominent fat deposition.

The key idea is where visceral fat tends to accumulate to form a noticeable belly. The greater omentum is a large, fatty apron of peritoneum that hangs from the greater curvature of the stomach and drapes over the intestines. It stores a lot of adipose tissue, and in obesity this fat layer thickens, producing the characteristic "beer belly." The other structures—lesser omentum (a thin connection between stomach, liver, and duodenum), the falciform ligament (anchors the liver to the front wall), and the mesentery (attaches the intestines to the abdominal wall)—are not the primary sites of this prominent fat deposition.