What Is The Shape Of Your Body (Apple, Pear, Avacado)

[Norma]

Are you an apple, a pear or an avocado? This question may sound absurd. However this is the terminology through which female body shape is classified.

It is well known that body shape of women is the result of female skeletal structure and the amount and distribution of muscle and fat on the body. Independent of body weight and fat percentage, the distribution of fat on the body can widely vary among women. In other words, different women tend to retain and store fat in different parts of the body, depending on their genetic make-up.
Apple-shaped women have broad shoulders and bust and narrow hips, and have a tendency to store fat in the chest, face and abdomen. On the contrary, in pear-shaped women the circumference of the hips is greater than that of the bust and fat is mainly distributed in the buttocks, hips and thighs. Lastly, in avocado-shaped women, fat is stored equally along the whole torso.

Regardless of any esthetical consideration, there are important health-related reasons why female body shapes are classified in that way. In fact the specific female body shape can be a predictor of health risk and can be used for estimating the risk of obesity and related conditions such as heart disease, hypertension and diabetes. In addition, it can be used to determine how easy a woman can lose weight and excess fat. Research has shown that apple-shaped women have the highest risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases (obesity, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes), while pear-shaped women have the lowest and avocado-shaped women have an intermediate level of risk. So, understanding which body shape you are is a useful tool to determine your potential level of risk.

Once a woman knows her body shape and her level of health risk, what can she do about it? Is it possible to change body shape, thereby reducing one’s health risk? Well, unfortunately the answer is no. Where the body stores fat is genetically determined and there is very little one can do about it.

You can try to lose weight, but remember that weight loss only reduces the body size. It doesn’t change your body shape. You can also try to exercise to burn fat and tone underlying muscles, but remember that there are no specific exercises to lose weight in specific areas.

So, independent of your shape, the best thing you can do to help lower or manage your health risk is to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Diet and aerobic exercise are the keys to losing weight and excess fat, wherever it is stored. If you tend to retain and store fat in specific areas (such as abdomen, hips or buttocks) it may be hard for you to lose fat from those areas. But this is not impossible. It’s only a matter of time, patience and perseveration. So stay consistent with your weight-loss program. Although you can’t change your body shape, by achieving a healthy weight you can lower you risk for future health problems.