Scientists Discover a Better Way To Reduce Dangerous Belly Fat in Older Women

As the body ages, subtle hormonal shifts begin to reshape where fat is stored, with important consequences for long-term health.

As people get older, body fat does not just increase. It also shifts to different places, and that change can have important health consequences.

Fat stored under the skin, known as subcutaneous fat, is a normal and necessary part of the body. But visceral fat builds up deeper in the abdomen, around internal organs, and is much more strongly associated with problems such as diabetes and heart disease. Researchers have found that hormones help drive this age-related shift, with testosterone playing an important role in where fat ends up over time.

“As men and women age, there’s an unhealthy redistribution of fat from the more innocuous regions into the visceral compartment,” Jacob Earp, assistant professor of kinesiology in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) says. “There is a direct link between sex hormones and fat distribution throughout the body.”

Standard weight loss plans do not selectively remove visceral fat. They reduce overall body weight, which can be a serious drawback for older adults who also need to preserve muscle during recovery and healthy aging.

“Doing these blanket weight loss strategies is not always the healthiest approach, especially because muscle weight will be lost along with fat, and maintaining muscle is extremely important as we age,” Earp says.

A Novel Approach to Recovery

To test a more targeted approach, Earp led a study on older women recovering from hip fracture, one of the most serious injuries later in life. For many patients, the damage goes far beyond the broken bone. Recovery often brings a sharp drop in mobility, a loss of independence, and a higher risk of further health problems.

The research focused on whether a topical testosterone gel, paired with exercise, could improve recovery in a way that standard weight loss methods cannot. The study’s results were published in Obesity Pillars.

Hip fractures are a major health concern for older women. They occur nearly three times more often in women than in men and are a leading cause of lost independence. Reduced mobility after injury can also raise the risk of further illness and reinjury.

Study Design and Participants

The study followed 66 women over age 65 who were recovering from a recent hip fracture. Before starting, each participant received a DXA scan to assess body composition.

All participants completed a therapeutic exercise program, but only one group was given testosterone gel as part of the intervention.

After six months, follow-up scans showed no difference in overall body fat between the groups. However, women who received testosterone had lower levels of visceral fat. Those in the control group showed an increase in visceral fat, which is typically seen during recovery from a hip fracture.

“If you have injury and just generally as we age, we expect an increase in visceral fat,” Earp says. “This really bucked that trend and caused selective reduction of fat in that visceral compartment.”

Implications for Aging and Recovery

The results suggest a potential new approach to improving recovery outcomes in older women with hip fractures.

“These are devastating injuries that most women don’t ever recover from,” Earp says. “In this case, any kind of intervention that can have a beneficial effect on health, you could potentially have a huge improvement in quality of life for the individual.”

Reference: “Testosterone therapy effects adipose distribution in older females post hip-fracture: The STEP-HI study” by Jacob E. Earp, Shangshu Zhao, Furong Xu, Chia-Ling Kuo, Jenna M. Bartley, Richard H. Fortinsky, Jatupol Kositsawat, Carlos O. Rehbein, Ellen F. Binder, Jennifer Stevens-Lapsley and George A. Kuchel, 12 January 2026, Obesity Pillars.
DOI: 10.1016/j.obpill.2026.100247

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