Though weight gain can happen anywhere, weight often seems to accumulate around the midsection faster than it does in other parts of the body. Part of the reason for this lies in the way that fat accumulates in the midsection, with two different types of fat being present in the area. Though there are a number of factors that actually cause the accumulation.
The midsection contains two distinct types of fat: subcutaneous fat that develops under the skin and visceral fat that develops within the abdominal cavity. Visceral fat fills in the area around the intestines and other organs in the abdomen, and large amounts of visceral fat have been linked to an increase in health issues such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome and certain types of cancer. Subcutaneous fat isn't as dangerous from a health perspective as visceral fat is, though it can be more difficult to lose.
The foods that you eat and the number of calories that you take in per day directly affect the development of fat in the body and specifically in the midsection. Some components of food such as sugars and simple carbohydrates are more commonly stored in abdominal fat than in fat located in other parts of the body, resulting in conditions such as the "beer gut" that develops from drinking beer and other beverages that contain primarily simple carbohydrates.
A steroid hormone known as cortisol is released by the body as a response to stressful situations. Although this hormone has positive effects on the regulation of energy within the body, cortisol also plays an active role in the development of abdominal fat by moving fat from storage deposits to the abdominal cavity and helping fat cells to mature. The concentration in cortisol in body tissues is regulated by an enzyme located in fat cells, with that enzyme being more present in visceral fat than it is in other types of fat; this results in larger concentrations of cortisol in the abdominal tissues, leading to faster fat development in the midsection during times of stress.
Research has shown that the amount of sleep that you get each night may have an effect on the development and accumulation of fat in the abdomen. A five-year study commissioned by the National Institutes of Health and published in the Associated Professional Sleep Societies' journal "Sleep" found that individuals younger than the age of 40 who received less than five hours or more than eight hours of sleep per night accumulated more abdominal fat over time than those who received between five and eight hours of sleep.
A woman's body undergoes a number of changes during menopause, including a significant drop in estrogen levels. When estrogen levels are higher, a woman's body tends to store fat in the hips and upper thighs. As estrogen levels drop, the body begins changing its fat distribution and starts storing more fat in the abdomen than in the hips and thighs. Hormonal changes in menopausal women can also lead to a decrease in exercise and the natural loss of lean muscle mass, resulting in weight gain.
Though it may seem counterintuitive, developing the abdominal muscles can actually cause you to gain weight and mass around the midsection. Exercises such as crunches and situps that develop the abdominals don't burn a large number of calories, so if you only do these exercises your muscles will get larger, but you won't burn fat. The larger muscles will lie underneath the subcutaneous fat of your abdomen, making it appear larger. The weight of the muscle you add will also add to your body weight if there isn't fat loss to accompany it.
- Sleep: Sleep Duration and Five-Year Abdominal Fat Accumulation in a Minority Cohort - The IRAS Family Study
- MayoClinic.com: Menopause Weight Gain -- Stop the Middle Age Spread
- MayoClinic.com: Belly Fat in Men -- Why Weight Loss Matters
- Exercise Science at the University of New Mexico: Cortisol Connection - Tips on Managing Stress and Weight
- Harvard Health Publications: Abdominal Fat and What to Do About It
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