The three crises of women's belly fat... At what age do they occur?

 

Decrease in basal metabolic rate from the 30s

A woman's basal metabolic rate peaks in her 20s and then decreases from her 30s. At this time, experiencing stress at work or at home ultimately leads to weight gain around the waist.

When stress persists, the adrenal glands secrete cortisol hormone. Cortisol hormone stimulates appetite while activating lipoprotein lipase, an enzyme that promotes fat accumulation in the body, leading to weight gain. The activity level of lipoprotein lipase is much higher in women than in men, and before middle age, it is more active in the hips and thighs. Therefore, the weight gain in women in their 30s mainly manifests as an increase in hip size and thicker thighs.

The sleep pattern of office workers who accumulate sleep on weekends due to insufficient sleep during weekdays also causes night fat. A domestic study shows that women who sleep regularly for 7 to 7.9 hours every day have a 10.5% obesity rate (BMI 25 or higher), while those who sleep less than 7 hours have a 23.3% obesity rate, and those who sleep more than 8 hours have an 18.9% obesity rate. When sleep is insufficient, hormonal changes in the body promote appetite, whereas excessive sleep is known to reduce energy expenditure in the body.

Women gain additional weight around their abdomen as they go through childbirth. When women are pregnant, fat accumulates intensively in the abdomen to protect the fetus. Even after giving birth, the weight gained during pregnancy does not completely disappear, leaving 1 to 4 kg of fat mainly in the body. The remaining fat and the skin of the expanded abdomen sag downward, resulting in postpartum belly fat. Breastfeeding is an effective method to prevent postpartum weight gain or obesity. When a newborn is breastfed, about 700 to 800 kcal are burned per day, of which approximately 300 kcal come from the fat stored in the mother's body, primarily around the abdomen.

In women in their late 40s to early 50s approaching menopause, estrogen, the female hormone, is hardly produced in the body. Since estrogen functions to suppress the accumulation of visceral fat, after menopause, women also develop visceral fat and age-related weight gain similar to men. The weight gain after menopause becomes the root cause of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and arteriosclerosis.

Fat gained during this period is not easily lost even with exercise. To lose 0.5 kg of weight, you need to burn 500 kcal, but even with high-intensity aerobic exercise for an hour, only about 200 kcal is burned. Women with weakened basic physical strength after menopause find it difficult to lose fat through strenuous exercise, so the best approach is to do light exercise consistently and follow a low-calorie diet.