Is Weight Gain Inevitable with Menopause?

Many women worry about weight gain during menopause or with postmenopausal estrogen use. A Massachusetts study examined weight change over 3 years in a cohort of 300 women (aged 40 to 50 at baseline) during their transition to menopause. The women were primarily white high school graduates. Investigators collected data on weight, menopausal status, smoking, alcohol use, exercise, and hormone use.

Almost two thirds of the women (62%) were postmenopausal by the last assessment. Mean weight (72.2 kg) did not change significantly during the 3-year period for the group as a whole. After adjustment for weight at baseline, transition through menopause was not significantly associated with weight gain for individual women, although weight gain was i…