ELI5- how does weight impact sweat?

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What about being overweight causes the sweat glands to over produce?

Edit- thank you for the answers! Another question- what causes people to sweat more or less genetics wise? Like people who have hyperhidrosis so their weight isn’t really as relevant (thin people with hyperhidrosis still sweat excessively). So, what causes the overproduction in this case?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Think about all animals, including people, as spheres, where heat is generated by the volume inside and is managed by escaping out the surface area. As a sphere gets larger, its surface area goes up by the square of the radius (4*pi*r^2), but volume goes up by the cube of the radius (4/3*pi*r^2). So, an elephant has a much larger volume to surface area ratio than a mouse and will radiate heat much more slowly. If you undergo significant transformation in your weight, all else being equal, you will experience more thermal management with perspiration when heavier, less when lighter, to aid the relatively reduced surface area.

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