Changes in body mass index around menopause: a population study of Chileanwoman

Objective: To evaluate the influence of menopause and hormone replacement t herapy (HRT) on weight and the effect of weight gain on coronary risk facto rs. Design: From 1991 to 1992 cardiovascular risk factors were assessed in 271 premenopausal women between the ages of 40 and 53 years. The women were not receiving HRT at that time. Five years later, these women were reevaluated . Results: Weight and body mass index (BMI) increased steadily with age. Duri ng the observation period there was an average increase of 4.0 kg +/- 4.6 ( p < 0.0001), Women who experienced menopause and those who did not experien ce menopause had a similar weight increase (3.8 +/- 4.4 kg vs. 4.3 +/- 4.8, p = 0.37). Likewise, weight gain was similar in those who did or did not u se HRT (nonusers, 4.3 +/- 4.6 kg; users, 3.5 +/- 3.7 kg; ex-users, 3.4 +/- 5.8 kg). At their first checkups, overweight women and obese women already had significant differences in their risk factors, including higher systoli c pressure (p < 0.02), diastolic pressure (p < 0.01), glucose (p < 0.02) an d triglycerides (p < 0.0001), and lower high-density lipoprotein cholestero l (p < 0.004) as compared with women of normal weight. Unexpectedly, women of normal weight who became overweight or obese during the monitoring perio d did not show any deterioration in their risk factors. Conclusions: During the perimenopausal period there is a weight gain that d oes not seem to depend on the menopause or HRT. Being overweight or obese d uring the menopausal transition is not necessarily associated with deterior ation in coronary risk factors. This seems to imply the existence of differ ent metabolic populations within this group of women.