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Women who tend to add extra pounds around their hips, buttocks, and thighs are said to have pear-shaped bodies because they are widest at the bottom.
The classic pear-shaped woman has a relatively thin upper body, often with small breasts, a well-defined waist, and heavier lower body. A pear-shaped woman tends to put on weight around her bottom—hips, thighs, and buttocks.
Fat in the pear zone is subcutaneous fat which traps and stores dietary fat (trapped fatty acids are then stored as triglycerides). In our image-conscious society, fat thighs and large buttocks are mocked. Even gorgeous, pear-shaped Jennifer Lopez has had to endure years of negative commentary about her figure. Young pear-shaped women who internalize the rail-thin ideal of fashion models end up struggling with body image problems and suffer from eating disorders more often than apple-shaped women do. What they don't know is that losing weight will not change the overall shape of their bodies—it will only make them smaller pears. Many of the health problems caused by obesity is because excess visceral fat is the problem, not pear-zone fat.
After menopause, pear-shaped women of all sizes lose their estrogen advantage, and can therefore start to experience many of the same health problems as apple-shaped women—especially increased risks of heart disease and diabetes.
Pear-shaped women are also more susceptible to osteoporosis, cellulite and varicose veins.
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