Dad bods may be sexy to some, but a new study shows that the hidden fat packed around your internal organs – that “spare tyre” around the belly – could be making your body age faster than the calendar suggests.
The study, published by the journal Obesity, found that people carrying more visceral fat – the deep belly fat wrapped around organs such as the liver and intestines – tended to show signs of faster biological ageing, regardless of how much they weighed overall.
Researchers from the University of Western Australia examined nearly 4,800 adults aged 45 to 69 and discovered that this stubborn “spare tyre” fat was linked to accelerated ageing in both men and women, even after accounting for factors such as body weight, waist size and lifestyle habits.
For women, the news was even less flattering.
Higher levels of visceral fat were also associated with shorter telomeres – the tiny protective caps on chromosomes that scientists often compare to the plastic tips on shoelaces. As those caps shorten, cells age and wear out.
Why is belly fat such a troublemaker?
Researchers say it behaves less like a passive storage locker and more like an unruly factory, pumping out inflammatory chemicals that put the body under constant stress.
The findings suggest that keeping deep abdominal fat in check may help people stay healthier for longer.
The good news? Unlike trying to guess what is happening beneath the waistband, doctors can measure visceral fat using imaging technology already commonly used in routine bone-density scans.
In other words, your bathroom scales may not be telling the whole story. The real age giveaway could be the fat you cannot see.