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Why women get fat faster than men
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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If you were to conduct a survey among women to find out which part of the body they dislike the most, then most would probably point to the stomach.
Everyone knows that this is caused by poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle, but the reasons do not end there.
A high-fat diet triggers chemical reactions in female mice, which could explain why women's waistlines get fatter than men's.
These reactions may also explain why women gain weight rapidly after menopause.
The experts traced a chain of events in the mice's bodies that begins with the activation of an enzyme and ends with the formation of visceral fat. This fat fills the free space between the internal organs of the abdomen and can lead to serious health problems due to its toxicity. For example, there is a high probability of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.
One of the functions of this enzyme is to produce a powerful hormone that causes visceral fat cells to form. The source of this hormone is vitamin A.
When consuming fatty foods, the activation processes of this enzyme occur more intensively in women than in men.
When scientists genetically altered a female mouse to remove the enzyme, the mouse remained lean and did not gain fat, especially in the belly, even when it ate high-calorie food. Male mice showed similar results. The findings suggest that these findings could be the basis for treating obesity.
"If you conduct a survey, most people will name high-calorie food and a sedentary lifestyle as the main causes of obesity. But as we see, problems with excess weight are also genetically determined," says the lead author of the study, associate professor of human nutrition at Ohio State University Ulyana Zyuzenkova.
A diet high in fat influences our genetic potential to make us fatter, but it cannot do so on its own.
Experts also found out why most women risk gaining excess weight during menopause. This is due to the fact that a decrease in estrogen levels causes fat to redistribute from the hips and buttocks (where it was stored as a reserve reserve for breastfeeding) to the abdominal cavity.