• Question: does fat differ between boys and girls as the grow up?????

    Asked by BertaX to Charlotte, hannahmoir, Majid, Richard, Sam on 8 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Hannah Moir

      Hannah Moir answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Hi Berta, Very interesting questions because this is the case. Females typically can and should have more body fat percentage compared to males due to health purposes to help with fertility and having babies.

    • Photo: Sam Smith

      Sam Smith answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Thanks BertaX – and yes fat does differ between boys and girls as they get older. Women generally have more body fat than men. The reason for this is because women have children, and this foetus will feed off their own reserves. So it’s better for women to stock up on a bit more fat than men to ensure their child is well fed! Ensuring fat levels don’t increase too much after they stop having children is very important for female health.

    • Photo: Charlotte Green

      Charlotte Green answered on 8 Mar 2016:

      Also the distribution of fat in your body is different between men and women. Women tend to have more lower body fat (on thighs and bum) than men.

    • Photo: Majid Ahmed

      Majid Ahmed answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      The only thing I can add to what the others have already said is that oestrogen (the female sex hormone) affects how women store fat and where it is stored. When women go through menopause (stop menstruating) they no longer produce the levels of oestrogen they did before menopause. This leads to weight gain due to storing more fat, especially in the central abdominal region. This is considered as bad for cardiovascular health and overall general health.

      The good news is that women can make lifestyle changes to prevent the weight gain and the negative effects on health. If these lifestyle changes are not possible or do not work, women can speak to their doctors about taking hormone replacement therapy to help prevent the weight gain and the negative health effects.

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