Objectives. Whether menopause per se influences fat distribution indep
endently of the effect of aging remains controversial. The lack of con
sistency in the menopause related changes in body fat distribution may
be the result of differences in the methods for measuring fat distrib
ution or in the characteristics of the women studied. The-aim of this
cross sectional study in obese women was to compare total body composi
tion and regional fat and lean distribution, in premenopausal, perimen
opausal and postmenopausal women. Methods: Body composition was assess
ed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) in premenopausal (n = 26
), perimenopausal(n = 24) and postmenopausal (n = 73) obese women with
no intercurrent diseases. Results: It was shown that postmenopausal o
bese (n = 73) women had a higher proportion of total fat mass in the t
runk and a lower proportion of total fat and lean mass in the femoral
and leg regions than premenopausal women after adjustment for age and
total fat mass. In the same analysis, perimenopausal women had a lower
proportion of total fat in the leg and femoral regions and of total l
ean in the femoral region than premenopausal women; they had a regiona
l body composition similar to that of postmenopausal women. Conclusion
: The present data indicate that in obese women, post menopause and pe
rimenopause are associated with differences in fat and lean distributi
on, independently of age and total fat.