What effect does your waist size have on your health? Here’s why belly fat is more common in women after menopause, the harm it causes, and what to do about it.
An enlarged waistline is sometimes thought to be a result of getting older. For women, this occurs because women’s body fat tends to move to the stomach after menopause.
But that extra belly fat doesn’t just make it hard to zip up your jeans. Research shows that abdominal fat carries serious health risks. However, the threat posed by belly fat can be reduced.
Everyone has belly fat, even people who have flat stomachs.
That’s normal. Fat is an essential part of the human body. But not all are the same, their amount and location in your body can affect your health.
Subcutaneous belly fat is just beneath your skin. This may make your clothes feel tighter than usual. It can make your belly soft and round.
Deep belly fat, or visceral fat, is located deep inside your stomach. It accumulates around the heart, lungs, liver and other organs. Experts call it “visceral adipose tissue”.
You need visceral fat. It protects your organs.
But the amounts are very, very small, and even relatively small amounts can cause disease. Having a small amount of fat around the heart, for example, can be very detrimental.
Fat around your organs can make you more likely to develop conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, and certain cancers, including breast and colon cancer.
What Causes Belly Fat?
A person’s weight depends mostly on 4 things:
1. Genetic
2. Age
3. Calories consumed per day
4. Calories burned daily
People who routinely eat and drink more calories than they burn each day are likely to gain weight, especially belly fat.
Getting older also makes a difference. People lose muscle as they grow older. And the problem is even worse for those who are physically inactive. Loss of muscle mass reduces the speed at which the body uses calories. This can make maintaining a healthy weight more difficult.
Many women notice an increase in belly fat as they get older even if they don’t gain weight. This is most likely caused by low levels of estrogen, because estrogen affects the location of fat in the body.
Genes can also contribute to a person’s chance of being overweight or obese. This also plays a role in where the body stores fat.
Measuring Your Belly
To find out whether your belly fat is a concern, measure your waist:
Stand and place the measuring tape around your bare stomach, just above your hipbones.
Pull the measuring tape until it fits, but doesn’t press against the skin. Make sure the measuring tape is completely level.
Relax, breathe out, and measure your waist. Don’t suck in your belly when you measure.
For women, a waist of more than 35 inches indicates an unhealthy amount of belly fat and a greater risk of health problems. However, in general, the larger your waist size, the higher the health risks.
