People who thin out as they get older and people who gain weight as they age. Is it genetics?

[Anonymous]

Men and women for example. I saw some mentions about Trump’s weight at his age being unusual which made me think of the elderly people that I know or encounter (my teen volunteers at an elder care home).

Is it genetics?

Many of the heavier people are not less active than those who require rollators or walkers. Diets are pretty standard across. Those who have in facility dining aren’t eating out more.

Interestingly (to me atleast ) when I was a child, most of the women had a similar body shape that was heavier in the hips than I see today. This is not just the women in my family, but teachers, friends mothers, etc..

What makes some people get thinner as they age having been heavier as teens-middle age and others to gain weight even though they were skinny or thin well into their adult years?

[Anonymous]

It's genetics. Women seem to go one of two ways. I'm 55 and see it in myself and friends. Some of us are becoming tiny bird women and some are getting dumpy.

10 years ago we were all athletic and thin. We all still exercise, we all eat the same as we always did (which is relatively little and quite healthy).

[Anonymous]

I think many women gain weight beginning in perimenopause and then lose it and become fail as they become more elderly.

[Anonymous]

In my family we grow enormous boobs in middle age. It's terrible.

[Anonymous]

It's genetics , that's why the saying is to look at the Mon to determine if the genetics are good. It should be a consideration before marriage

[Anonymous]

My body looks nothing like my mom's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Men and women for example. I saw some mentions about Trump’s weight at his age being unusual which made me think of the elderly people that I know or encounter (my teen volunteers at an elder care home).

Is it genetics?

Many of the heavier people are not less active than those who require rollators or walkers. Diets are pretty standard across. Those who have in facility dining aren’t eating out more.

Interestingly (to me atleast ) when I was a child, most of the women had a similar body shape that was heavier in the hips than I see today. This is not just the women in my family, but teachers, friends mothers, etc..

What makes some people get thinner as they age having been heavier as teens-middle age and others to gain weight even though they were skinny or thin well into their adult years?

In my family I swear there is a definite Fat gene. So. Yes, I believe it is genetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's genetics. Women seem to go one of two ways. I'm 55 and see it in myself and friends. Some of us are becoming tiny bird women and some are getting dumpy.

10 years ago we were all athletic and thin. We all still exercise, we all eat the same as we always did (which is relatively little and quite healthy).

Birds are cute...what is dumpy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My body looks nothing like my mom's.

+1 I always assumed my body would age like my mom's but it hasn't at all.

Though my mom and I also have had vastly different lifestyles, activity levels, diets, etc. I have health issues my mom never had (kidney issues and hip issues stemming from my one very difficult pregnancy before encountering secondary infertility and never conceiving again) and she has health issues I still haven't encountered even as I enter my 50s (obesity, diabetes, though she had four healthy and easy pregnancies and no infertility).

Genetics matter but aren't everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's genetics. Women seem to go one of two ways. I'm 55 and see it in myself and friends. Some of us are becoming tiny bird women and some are getting dumpy.

10 years ago we were all athletic and thin. We all still exercise, we all eat the same as we always did (which is relatively little and quite healthy).

Tiny bird women look frail and sickly. The thinning out thing as they age isn’t necessarily a good thing and can be an indicator of illness and less “finally I can fit back into my favorite clothes”.

[Anonymous]

Genetics, but pretty much everyone gets smaller eventually.

[Anonymous]

I don't even understand this question because of course body type and how you age is at least somewhat dictated by genetics. But also lifestyle is going to play a role. How is this even a question?

OP, you are selectively remembering how women aged when you were a kid -- you are only thinking of a handful of women in your life including your female relatives who share your genetics and maybe a handful of other women (most of whom likely had similar backgrounds to your family members). But no, it's not like all women became bottom heavy as they aged, all over the world and in every socio-economic class, and then that changed. And today you are also taking a tiny sample of "women you interact with regularly and pay attention to" and extrapolating that this is just how all women today age. There are likely even women you see all the time but don't really register them as peers and therefore just don't notice how they are aging. This is like when I was in college and my brunette roommate fretted that "everyone here is blonde" because she was self conscious about not being blonde for some reason, and I was blonde and there were two blonde women in her freshman writing seminar, so she briefly believed that "most" college women were blonde. She was totally blinded by her own weird fixations and insecurities. A normal percent of the student body of our school was blonde or brunette or redheaded. She just could not see it somehow because her brain discounted everyone but these three blonde women as not being relevant. You are doing that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's genetics. Women seem to go one of two ways. I'm 55 and see it in myself and friends. Some of us are becoming tiny bird women and some are getting dumpy.

10 years ago we were all athletic and thin. We all still exercise, we all eat the same as we always did (which is relatively little and quite healthy).

Tiny bird women look frail and sickly. The thinning out thing as they age isn’t necessarily a good thing and can be an indicator of illness and less “finally I can fit back into my favorite clothes”.

Sure. And also weight gain can be a sign of poor health. Also it's possible to be tiny or to be heavy and still be healthy. People's health and weight is none of your business. I'm sorry the PP used the word "dumpy" to describe older women carrying more weight -- I see that it triggered your defensive need to criticize and put down women who don't gain weight. But you could also just not play this game.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's genetics. Women seem to go one of two ways. I'm 55 and see it in myself and friends. Some of us are becoming tiny bird women and some are getting dumpy.

10 years ago we were all athletic and thin. We all still exercise, we all eat the same as we always did (which is relatively little and quite healthy).

Tiny bird women look frail and sickly. The thinning out thing as they age isn’t necessarily a good thing and can be an indicator of illness and less “finally I can fit back into my favorite clothes”.

Sure. And also weight gain can be a sign of poor health. Also it's possible to be tiny or to be heavy and still be healthy. People's health and weight is none of your business. I'm sorry the PP used the word "dumpy" to describe older women carrying more weight -- I see that it triggered your defensive need to criticize and put down women who don't gain weight. But you could also just not play this game.

Give me a break. There is a lot of disordered thinking and dieting in this age group still and to think that the loss of muscle and fat as part of aging is some sort of win with the genetic lottery is stupid.

[Anonymous]

My genetics kept me very, very thin until I went on psych meds in my mid 30s. Combating obesity now.