This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body. The tendency to gain or carry weight around the waist — and have an "apple" rather than a "pear" shape — might have a genetic component as well.
It's a result of weakened transverse abdominus and overactive external oblique muscles. The transverse abdominus is a deep abdominal muscle that runs circumferentially around the trunk, much like a girdle. It is an important stabilizer of the spine and lower abdominal area.
Causes include poor diet, lack of exercise, and short or low-quality sleep. A healthy diet and active lifestyle can help people lose excess belly fat and lower the risk of problems associated with it.
The most common causes are trapped gas or eating too much in a short time. The sensation of bloating can cause abdominal distention, which is a visible swelling or extension of your belly.
A diet high in added sugars, especially from sugar-sweetened beverages, may increase belly fat. Most often, stick with water, unsweetened coffee/tea, and eating a diet rich in whole, minimally processed foods.
One of the most effective ways to lose body fat is to eat fewer calories than the body burns. This leads to fat loss throughout the body, including the abdomen. Eating fewer calories than the body uses up creates a caloric deficit. This can help burn both visceral fat and excess subcutaneous fat.
Causes of a High Waist Circumference
A larger waist circumference is often caused by intra-abdominal visceral fat. Visceral fat is fat that develops between and around internal organs. This type of fat differs from "regular" fat that sits just beneath the skin and can be pinched.
If you have been exercising and still have belly fat, you could be doing the wrong style training, your stress levels may be too high, or you may have an endocrine disorder like polycystic ovary syndrome.
Sometimes, excess fat around the belly is due to hormones. Hormones help regulate many bodily functions, including metabolism, stress, hunger, and sex drive. If a person has a deficiency in certain hormones, it may result in weight gain around the abdomen, which is known as a hormonal belly.
Women have extra padding to protect vital organs
“The design of a woman's anatomy is different than men,” Wood says. “In addition to having room for digestive organs, like your stomach, liver and intestines, it has to have space for your reproductive organs and needs extra padding to protect all of these vital organs.
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
Myth #4:Everyone can have a flat stomach. Reality: Many factors impact the look of your abdominal area such as genetics, disciplined diet and stress.
Before you rush to your doctor to get a prescription for your hormonal belly, there are natural ways to readjust your levels. Reducing sugar intake, eliminating processed foods from your diet, and avoiding things like dairy, alcohol, and caffeine can all help reset your blood sugar and insulin levels.
Excess belly fat can be dangerous because it surrounds internal organs and puts you at greater risk for developing several kinds of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and liver problems.
It's that deeper fat -- called "visceral" fat -- that may be the bigger problem, even for thin people. Even thin people can have too much belly fat. It's more about how active you are than your pants size.
According to Hyman, insulin is also significant in storing fat in skinny people, leading to a fat belly. Not only does it store fat, but insulin also causes hormonal and metabolic changes that lead to muscle loss and increased inflammation levels in the body. These changes can lead to bloated and distended bellies.
What should your waist measurement be? For men, a waist circumference below 94cm (37in) is 'low risk', 94–102cm (37-40in) is 'high risk' and more than 102cm (40in) is 'very high'. For women, below 80cm (31.5in) is low risk, 80–88cm (31.5-34.6in) is high risk and more than 88cm (34.6in) is very high.
In both men and women, waist and waist-to- hip ratio increase with aging. A large portion of this increase is driven by gains in body weight, but the increases observed are larger than those would be predicted from increases in BMI alone, and increases in WC are seen with aging in the absence of weight gain.
In a landmark research conducted by the late Devendra Singh, she found that men rate women as most attractive when they have a waist size that's 60 to 70 percent of their hip size.