Women gain weight at life-changing times

LOS ANGELES - Studies show that women are most likely to put on weight at puberty, after pregnancy and after menopause, giving doctors new help in the battle against obesity.

Obesity in North American women has almost doubled in the past 20 years.

While many factors were cited at a conference in Long Beach, California, a lot of research showed women putting on the most weight during those three life-changing periods.

"It could easily be the number of times you go for Happy Meals," one researcher said, citing similar patterns of weight gain for new fathers as well as mothers. "But there may be a physiological component for women."

Experts at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity said identifying key stages and causes of weight gain was critical for developing prevention programmes to stop or slow the trend.

Aviva Must, of Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, presented results from two studies suggesting that early menarche (the onset of menstruation) in young girls sets the stage for obesity later in life.

"It has long been known that kids who are overweight will mature earlier than their age-matched peers. There is an epidemic of childhood obesity and puberty has been identified as a potentially critical period in the development of obesity."

Ms Must added that if early menarche were established as a critical risk period, obesity prevention and treatment strategies, such as more exercise, could be better targeted.

Data presented by researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham showed that weight retention after pregnancy might be a factor in the obesity of young women.

They found that while most women experience a modest weight gain after pregnancy, obese women risked substantial weight gain. And, African American women were at greater risk than Caucasians.

The five-year study found that women who had given birth gained an average 9kg, compared with an average 5kg for childless women.

Weight gain during menopause could be significantly prevented by physical activity and reducing saturated fat in the diet, according to findings of the Women's Healthy Lifestyle Project.

- REUTERS