Obesity

While obesity in general is a major predictor of serious ill-health in men, abdominal obesity - excess fat around the stomach - is an added health risk, which is bad news for men as they typically store fat around their middle. Men under stress are doubly at risk as stress triggers the release of the hormone cortisol which appears to stimulate fat storage around the stomach and abdomen. Abdominal obesity is one of a number of interlinked conditions (the others being high cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, high levels of inflammatory and clotting components in the blood) that comprise the condition known as metabolic syndrome. This disorder has been identified as a complex risk factor for cardiovascular disease. An estimated 1 in 3 of overweight or obese men have metabolic syndr