Research

Hormonal

The menopausal transition in nonobese women causes significant increases in visceral fat and total fat mass without resulting in cardiometabolic deterioration.

If you are a healthy, nonobese woman going through menopause, expect your body fat, especially around your organs (visceral fat), to increase. However, this physical change does not automatically mean your blood sugar, cholesterol, or blood pressure will get worse. Maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness and a healthy weight can help prevent these metabolic risks despite the hormonal shifts.

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Our results suggest that changes in body composition and fat distribution can occur in nonobese women as they go through the menopausal transition. However, these changes were not accompanied by cardiometabolic deteriorations in the present study.
Joseph Abdulnour et al. · Menopause The Journal of The North American Menopause Society · 2012

Why this rating

Longitudinal 5-year study with gold-standard DXA/CT measures, but limited to nonobese women.

Source

The effect of the menopausal transition on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors

Joseph Abdulnour et al. · Menopause The Journal of The North American Menopause Society · 2012

DOI 10.1097/gme.0b013e318240f6f3

cohort · n=102Cited 225×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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