There are many reasons why people gain belly fat, including poor diet, lack of exercise, and stress. Improving nutrition, increasing activity, and making other lifestyle changes can all help.
Belly fat refers to fat around the abdomen. There are two types of belly fat:
- Visceral: This fat surrounds a person’s organs.
- Subcutaneous: This is fat that sits under the skin.
An expanding waistline is sometimes considered the price of getting older. For women, this can be especially true after menopause, when body fat tends to shift to the abdomen.
Yet an increase in belly fat does more than make it hard to zip up your jeans. Research shows that belly fat also carries serious health risks. The good news? The threats posed by belly fat can be reduced.
Why belly fat is more than skin deep
The trouble with belly fat is that it’s not limited to the extra layer of padding located just below the skin (subcutaneous fat). It also includes visceral fat — which lies deep inside your abdomen, surrounding your internal organs.
Although subcutaneous fat poses cosmetic concerns, visceral fat is linked with far more dangerous health problems, including:
- Heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Abnormal cholesterol
- Breathing problems
Research also associates belly fat with an increased risk of premature death — regardless of overall weight. In fact, some studies have found that even when women were considered a normal weight based on standard body mass index (BMI) measurements, a large waistline increased the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease.
Females tend to store fat in the lower belly because of hormones, genetics, and age, and may be difficult to reduce in some cases. However, everyone should take the same basic approach to lose weight, regardless of sex or gender.
As you age, belly fat tends to accumulate — hence the term, “middle-age spread.” You naturally lose muscle mass as you age, and excess calories are more easily stored as fat, particularly in the belly.
Hormonal changes also make belly fat develop. Women, in child-bearing years, tend to gain fat in their hips, thighs and buttocks to supply a reserve of energy during pregnancy and breastfeeding. As their levels of estrogen drop during menopause, fat migrates more to the belly. Men always have a tendency to develop belly fat, but there’s no known physiological reason why. Once hormone levels of testosterone start to reduce in men after age 40, belly fat gain expedites.
