New research suggests obesity may affect men and women differently, with men showing more abdominal fat and liver stress, while women show higher inflammation and cholesterol.These patterns may help explain why cardiometabolic risk does not look the same across the sexes.The findings are interesting, but this was a cross-sectional study presented at a conference, so it is still early evidence rather than a settled conclusion.
A study presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity suggests men and women with obesity may not carry the same hidden health risks.
Researchers analysed data from more than 1,100 adults treated at an obesity clinic in Turkey.
They found that men tended to have larger waist circumferences, higher systolic blood pressure and higher levels of liver enzymes and triglycerides.
That points towards a greater burden of visceral fat and a higher likelihood of liver and metabolic complications.
Women, by contrast, had higher total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.
They also showed higher levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and platelet count.
That suggests a stronger inflammatory profile.
The overall message is not that obesity is worse in one sex than the other.
It is that the pattern of risk may differ.
Men appeared more likely to show the kind of fat distribution associated with visceral obesity and metabolic disease.
Women appeared more likely to show raised inflammation and less favourable cholesterol profiles.
There are plausible biological reasons for that.
Hormones influence where fat is stored, how the liver handles nutrients and how the immune system behaves.
Women also tend to have a more active immune response, which may partly explain the higher inflammatory markers.
This matters because obesity is often treated too generically.
If the underlying biology differs by sex, then the risk assessment and possibly the treatment approach may need to differ as well.
That said, this is not the final word.
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show cause and effect.
Most participants were also from one ethnic background, so it may not translate neatly to other populations.
Still, it is a useful reminder that obesity is not one-size-fits-all, and neither is the risk that comes with it.