Discrimination at work is linked to high blood pressure. Icy fingers and toes: Poor circulation or Raynaud's phenomenon? Though the term might sound dated, "middle-age spread" is a greater concern than ever.

As people go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase — more so in women than men. Extra pounds tend to park themselves around the midsection. At one time, we might have accepted these changes as an inevitable fact of aging.

But we've now been put on notice that as our waistlines grow, so do our health risks. Abdominal, or visceral, fat is of particular concern because it's a key player in a variety of health problems — much more so than subcutaneous fat, the kind you can grasp with your hand.

Visceral fat, on the other hand, lies out of reach, deep within the abdominal cavity, where it pads the spaces between our abdominal organs. Visceral fat has been linked to metabolic disturbances and increased risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

In women, it is also associated with breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery. Fat accumulated in the lower body the pear shape is subcutaneous, while fat in the abdominal area the apple shape is largely visceral. Where fat ends up is influenced by several factors, including heredity and hormones.

As the evidence against abdominal fat mounts, researchers and clinicians are trying to measure it, correlate it with health risks, and monitor changes that occur with age and overall weight gain or loss. The fat you can pinch is subcutaneous fat. The fat inside your belly the visceral fat can be seen and measured, but not pinched.

How do you lose belly fat? No surprise: exercise and diet. Staying physically active throughout the day as well as scheduling time for structured exercise may be even more important than diet. Research suggests that fat cells — particularly abdominal fat cells — are biologically active.

It's appropriate to think of fat as an endocrine organ or gland, producing hormones and other substances that can profoundly affect our health.

Although scientists are still deciphering the roles of individual hormones, it's becoming clear that excess body fat, especially abdominal fat, disrupts the normal balance and functioning of these hormones.

Scientists are also learning that visceral fat pumps out immune system chemicals called cytokines — for example, tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-6 — that can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

These and other biochemicals are thought to have deleterious effects on cells' sensitivity to insulin, blood pressure, and blood clotting. One reason excess visceral fat is so harmful could be its location near the portal vein, which carries blood from the intestinal area to the liver.

Substances released by visceral fat, including free fatty acids, enter the portal vein and travel to the liver, where they can influence the production of blood lipids. Visceral fat is directly linked with higher total cholesterol and LDL bad cholesterol, lower HDL good cholesterol, and insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance means that your body's muscle and liver cells don't respond adequately to normal levels of insulin, the pancreatic hormone that carries glucose into the body's cells.

Glucose levels in the blood rise, heightening the risk for diabetes. Now for the good news. So what can we do about tubby tummies? A lot, it turns out. The starting point for bringing weight under control, in general, and combating abdominal fat, in particular, is regular moderate-intensity physical activity — at least 30 minutes per day and perhaps up to 60 minutes per day to control weight and lose belly fat.

Strength training exercising with weights may also help fight abdominal fat. Spot exercising, such as doing sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles, but it won't get at visceral fat.

Diet is also important. Pay attention to portion size, and emphasize complex carbohydrates fruits, vegetables, and whole grains and lean protein over simple carbohydrates such as white bread, refined-grain pasta, and sugary drinks. Replacing saturated fats and trans fats with polyunsaturated fats can also help.

Scientists hope to develop drug treatments that target abdominal fat. In women, a waist circumference of 35 inches or larger is generally considered a sign of excess visceral fat, but that may not apply if your overall body size is large.

Rather than focus on a single reading or absolute cut-off, keep an eye on whether your waist is growing are your pants getting snug at the waist?

That should give you a good idea of whether you're gaining unhealthy visceral fat. Visceral fat can be measured in a variety of ways. CT scans and full-body MRIs are the most precise, but they are expensive and rarely available, so investigators often use estimates based on waist circumference or waist size in proportion to height see "Gut check".

To ensure that they're not just measuring overall obesity, researchers also check whether a person's waist circumference is higher than average for her or his body mass index BMI. Cardiovascular disease. Several studies have documented this effect.

For example, a large study of European women ages 45 to 79 concluded that those with the biggest waists and those with the largest waists in relation to their hip size had more than double the risk of developing heart disease. The risk was still nearly double even after adjustment for several other risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and BMI.

Higher visceral-fat volume also has a deleterious impact on several other heart disease risk factors. It's associated with higher blood pressure, blood sugar levels and triglyceride levels, and lower levels of HDL good cholesterol.

Taken together, these changes, known as metabolic syndrome, create a serious risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente found that people in their early 40s with the highest levels of abdominal fat, compared with those who had the least abdominal fat at that age, were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia including Alzheimer's disease by their mids to early 80s.

Dementia was not associated with increased thigh size. The risks were highest for women who were both large-waisted and overweight or obese. The investigators believe that belly fat raises the risk of asthma more than other poundage because it has inflammatory effects throughout the body, including in the airways.

Breast cancer. A combined analysis of several studies found that premenopausal women with abdominal obesity the largest waist size in proportion to their height were at greater risk for breast cancer. Large waists were also linked to breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, but that effect was not significant once BMI was taken into account.

Colorectal cancer. People with the most visceral fat have three times the risk of developing colorectal adenomas precancerous polyps than those with the least visceral fat.

The relationship was found after many other risks were accounted for. The researchers also confirmed that adenomatous polyps in the colon are associated with insulin resistance, which may be the mechanism that increases the cancer risk.

Where you tend to gain fat depends on your genes, your hormones, your age, your birth weight smaller babies more readily add belly fat later in life , and whether you've had children women who have given birth tend to develop more visceral fat than women who haven't.

As young adults, women on average have less visceral fat than men, but that changes with menopause. You can't change your birth weight or your genes, and you can't hold off menopause. But there are several ways you can minimize the accumulation of visceral fat. The good news is that because it's more readily metabolized into fatty acids, it responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs.

Here are some approaches that may help:. Keep moving. Exercise can help reduce your waist circumference. Even if you don't lose weight, you lose visceral belly fat and gain muscle mass. Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days, such as brisk walking or bicycling at a casual pace.

Also create opportunities to add motion to routine tasks. For example, park farther from your destination and walk the rest of the way, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and stand while you talk on the phone.

Studies have shown that you can help trim visceral fat or prevent its growth with both aerobic activity such as brisk walking and strength training exercising with weights. Spot exercises, such as sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles but won't get at visceral fat.

Exercise can also help keep fat from coming back. Eat right. Choose a balanced diet that helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Avoid products that seem to encourage belly fat deposition, especially simple sugars like fructose-sweetened foods and beverages.

Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs. Get your sleep. Too little is bad. A five-year study found that adults under age 40 who slept five hours or less a night accumulated significantly more visceral fat.

But too much isn't good, either — young adults who slept more than eight hours also added visceral fat.

This relationship wasn't found in people over age Mind your mood. Middle-aged women who show more hostility and had more depressive symptoms tend to have more visceral fat — but not more subcutaneous fat.

Forget the quick fix. Liposuction for cosmetic fat removal doesn't reach inside the abdominal wall. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.

Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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Drinking too much alcohol of any kind can add to the problem. If you drink alcohol, do so only in moderation. For men, that means up to two drinks a day.

The less a person drinks, the fewer calories, and the less likely belly fat will build up over time. For men, a waist measurement of more than 40 inches centimeters signals an unhealthy amount of belly fat and a higher risk of health problems.

In general, though, the greater the waist measurement, the higher the health risks. You can strengthen and tone abdominal muscles with crunches or other exercises focused on your belly.

But doing those exercises alone won't get rid of belly fat. The good news is that visceral fat responds to the same diet and exercise strategies that can help get rid of other extra pounds and lower total body fat.

Try these tips:. Losing belly fat takes effort and patience. To lose extra fat and keep it from coming back, aim for slow and steady weight loss. Ask your health care provider for help getting started and staying on track.

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Request Appointment. Healthy Lifestyle Men's health. Sections Basics Men's health In-Depth Expert Answers Multimedia Resources News From Mayo Clinic What's New. Products and services. Belly fat in men: Why weight loss matters Belly fat can be a serious problem. By Mayo Clinic Staff. Enlarge image Belly fat Close.

Belly fat Subcutaneous fat is belly fat you can feel if you pinch extra skin and tissue around your middle. Thank you for subscribing! Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry. Cardiovascular disease.

Several studies have documented this effect. For example, a large study of European women ages 45 to 79 concluded that those with the biggest waists and those with the largest waists in relation to their hip size had more than double the risk of developing heart disease.

The risk was still nearly double even after adjustment for several other risk factors, including blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking, and BMI. Higher visceral-fat volume also has a deleterious impact on several other heart disease risk factors. It's associated with higher blood pressure, blood sugar levels and triglyceride levels, and lower levels of HDL good cholesterol.

Taken together, these changes, known as metabolic syndrome, create a serious risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers at Kaiser Permanente found that people in their early 40s with the highest levels of abdominal fat, compared with those who had the least abdominal fat at that age, were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia including Alzheimer's disease by their mids to early 80s.

Dementia was not associated with increased thigh size. The risks were highest for women who were both large-waisted and overweight or obese. The investigators believe that belly fat raises the risk of asthma more than other poundage because it has inflammatory effects throughout the body, including in the airways.

Breast cancer. A combined analysis of several studies found that premenopausal women with abdominal obesity the largest waist size in proportion to their height were at greater risk for breast cancer. Large waists were also linked to breast cancer risk among postmenopausal women, but that effect was not significant once BMI was taken into account.

Colorectal cancer. People with the most visceral fat have three times the risk of developing colorectal adenomas precancerous polyps than those with the least visceral fat. The relationship was found after many other risks were accounted for.

The researchers also confirmed that adenomatous polyps in the colon are associated with insulin resistance, which may be the mechanism that increases the cancer risk. Where you tend to gain fat depends on your genes, your hormones, your age, your birth weight smaller babies more readily add belly fat later in life , and whether you've had children women who have given birth tend to develop more visceral fat than women who haven't.

As young adults, women on average have less visceral fat than men, but that changes with menopause. You can't change your birth weight or your genes, and you can't hold off menopause.

But there are several ways you can minimize the accumulation of visceral fat. The good news is that because it's more readily metabolized into fatty acids, it responds more efficiently to diet and exercise than fat on the hips and thighs.

Here are some approaches that may help:. Keep moving. Exercise can help reduce your waist circumference. Even if you don't lose weight, you lose visceral belly fat and gain muscle mass.

Engage in at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days, such as brisk walking or bicycling at a casual pace. Also create opportunities to add motion to routine tasks. For example, park farther from your destination and walk the rest of the way, take the stairs instead of the elevator, and stand while you talk on the phone.

Studies have shown that you can help trim visceral fat or prevent its growth with both aerobic activity such as brisk walking and strength training exercising with weights.

Spot exercises, such as sit-ups, can tighten abdominal muscles but won't get at visceral fat. Exercise can also help keep fat from coming back. Eat right. Choose a balanced diet that helps you achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

Avoid products that seem to encourage belly fat deposition, especially simple sugars like fructose-sweetened foods and beverages. Don't smoke. The more you smoke, the more likely you are to store fat in your abdomen rather than on your hips and thighs.

Get your sleep. Too little is bad. A five-year study found that adults under age 40 who slept five hours or less a night accumulated significantly more visceral fat. But too much isn't good, either — young adults who slept more than eight hours also added visceral fat.

This relationship wasn't found in people over age Regular exercise is especially effective in reducing visceral fat and preventing it from coming back. Even though you cannot change your genetics, hormones or your age, you can reduce your risk of disease by:.

Learn more here about the development and quality assurance of healthdirect content. Fat is stored throughout the body and that it produces chemicals and hormones which can be toxic to the body.

View our facts on toxic fate to find out more. Read more on LiveLighter website. Waist circumference: Measuring waist circumference WC is the simplest way to assess central obesity. Central obesity is an excess accumulation of fat in the abdominal area, particularly due to excess visceral fat.

Read more on myVMC — Virtual Medical Centre website. The quick answer is yes, with a bit of effort and dedicatipon it is possible to reduce or prevent visceral belly fat. Read more on Diabetes Australia website. Together, body mass index BMI and waist size can help work out whether your weight is within the healthy range and whether you are at risk of some chronic conditions.

Find out what each means and how to use them. Read more on Department of Health and Aged Care website. Find out how much weight you should expect to gain at each stage of pregnancy, based on your BMI, and tips on what to eat and how to exercise while pregnant.

Read more on Queensland Health website. Read more on NHMRC — National Health and Medical Research Council website. Key points About 1 in every 3 Australian adults has fatty liver disease It means too much fat has built up in the liver Fatty liver can be caused by problems with how your liver processes what you eat and drink your metabolism , too much alcohol, a virus infection, some….

Read more on Liver Foundation website. Cardiovascular disease can be linked to your weight. We want people to live healthier lives and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Find out more here.

A baby weighing more than 4. Here's what to expect if your baby is larger-than-average.