Why does belly fat begin to hang?

Question

As you gain weight and your stomach gets bigger why does it start to hang instead of sticking out like a pregnant stomach?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Most fat is between the muscles and skin, so there’s no “muscle wall” to help contain it. Fat is like heavy jelly, and your skin can’t hold it up very well. But you might have observed that men often have more of a “protruding” stomach when they gain weight (AKA the “beer belly”), while women’s stomachs are more prone to sagging. This is because men tend to develop more “visceral” fat around their internal organs, behind that supportive wall of muscle. This is not great, because that fat is putting more of a direct strain on the organs.