Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Body composition, energy expenditure and physical activity

Effects of the menopausal transition on energy expenditure: a MONET Group Study

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 08 January 2014

Abstract

Objectives:

Factors that influence weight gain during the menopausal transition are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in energy expenditure (EE) across the menopausal transition.

Methods:

In all, 102 premenopausal women (age: 49.9±1.9 years; body mass index: 23.3±2.2 kg/m2) were followed for 5 years. Body composition (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), physical activity EE (accelerometer), resting EE and thermic effect of food (indirect calorimetry) were measured annually.

Results:

Total EE decreased significantly over time in postmenopausal women (P<0.05), which was mostly due to a decrease in physical activity EE (P<0.05). Although average resting EE remained stable over time in postmenopausal women, a significant increase, over the 5-year period, was noted in women who were in the menopausal transition by year 5 (P<0.05). Finally, the time spent in moderate physical activity decreased and the time spent in sedentary physical activity increased during the menopausal transition (P<0.05).

Conclusion:

These results suggest that menopausal transition is accompanied with a decline in EE mainly characterized by a decrease in physical activity EE and a shift to a more sedentary lifestyle.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Milewicz A, Tworowska U, Demissie M . Menopausal obesity—myth or fact? Climacteric 2001; 4: 273–283.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Wing RR, Matthews KA, Kuller LH, Meilahn EN, Plantinga PL . Weight gain at the time of menopause. Arch Intern Med 1991; 151: 97–102.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Guthrie JR, Dennerstein L, Dudley EC . Weight gain and the menopause: a 5-year prospective study. Climacteric 1999; 2: 205–211.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Crawford SL, Casey VA, Avis NE, McKinlay SM . A longitudinal study of weight and the menopause transition: results from the Massachusetts Women’s Health Study. Menopause 2000; 7: 96–104.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Sternfeld B, Wang H, Quesenberry CP, Abrams B, Everson-Rose SA, Greendale GA et al. Physical activity and changes in weight and waist circumference in midlife women: findings from the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation. Am J Epidemiol 2004; 160: 912–922.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Svendsen OL, Hassager C, Christiansen C . Age- and menopause-associated variations in body composition and fat distribution in healthy women as measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Metabolism 1995; 44: 369–373.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Abdulnour J, Doucet E, Brochu M, Lavoie JM, Strychar I, Rabasa-Lhoret R et al. The effect of the menopausal transition on body composition and cardiometabolic risk factors: a Montreal-Ottawa New Emerging Team group study. Menopause 2012; 19: 760–767.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Sternfeld B, Bhat AK, Wang H, Sharp T, Quesenberry CP . Menopause, physical activity, and body composition/fat distribution in midlife women. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2005; 37: 1195–1202.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Alfonzo-Gonzalez G, Doucet E, Bouchard C, Tremblay A . Greater than predicted decrease in resting energy expenditure with age: cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence. Eur J Clin Nutr 2006; 60: 18–24.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Heymsfield SB, Gallagher D, Poehlman ET, Wolper C, Nonas K, Nelson D et al. Menopausal changes in body composition and energy expenditure. Exp Gerontol 1994; 29: 377–389.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Lovejoy JC, Champagne CM, de Jonge L, Xie H, Smith SR . Increased visceral fat and decreased energy expenditure during the menopausal transition. Int J Obes (Lond) 2008; 32: 949–958.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Wade GN, Zucker I . Modulation of food intake and locomotor activity in female rats by diencephalic hormone implants. J Comp Physiol Psychol 1970; 72: 328–336.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Lightfoot JT . Sex hormones’ regulation of rodent physical activity: a review. Int J Biol Sci 2008; 4: 126–132.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Lovejoy JC . Weight gain in women at midlife: the influence of menopause. Obes Manage 2009; 5: 52–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Macdonald HM, New SA, Campbell MK, Reid DM . Longitudinal changes in weight in perimenopausal and early postmenopausal women: effects of dietary energy intake, energy expenditure, dietary calcium intake and hormone replacement therapy. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 2003; 27: 669–676.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Soules MR, Sherman S, Parrott E, Rebar R, Santoro N, Utian W et al. Executive summary: Stages of Reproductive Aging Workshop (STRAW) Park City, Utah, July, 2001. Menopause 2001; 8: 402–407.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Doucet E, Laviolette M, Imbeault P, Strychar I, Rabasa-Lhoret R, Prud’homme D . Total peptide YY is a correlate of postprandial energy expenditure but not of appetite or energy intake in healthy women. Metabolism 2008; 57: 1458–1464.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Weir JB . New methods for calculating metabolic rate with special reference to protein metabolism. J Physiol 1949; 109: 1–9.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Heil DP . Predicting activity energy expenditure using the Actical activity monitor. Res Q Exerc Sport 2006; 77: 64–80.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Esliger DW, Tremblay MS . Technical reliability assessment of three accelerometer models in a mechanical setup. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2006; 38: 2173–2181.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Matthews CE, Ainsworth BE, Thompson RW, Bassett DR . Sources of variance in daily physical activity levels as measured by an accelerometer. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002; 34: 1376–1381.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Bouten CV, Sauren AA, Verduin M, Janssen JD . Effects of placement and orientation of body-fixed accelerometers on the assessment of energy expenditure during walking. Med Biol Eng Comput 1997; 35: 50–56.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Ravussin E, Bogardus C . Relationship of genetics, age, and physical fitness to daily energy expenditure and fuel utilization. Am J Clin Nutr 1989; 49 (Suppl), 968–975.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Starling RD . Energy expenditure and aging: effects of physical activity. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2001; 11 (Suppl), S208–S217.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Douchi T, Yamamoto S, Nakamura S, Ijuin T, Oki T, Maruta K et al. The effect of menopause on regional and total body lean mass. Maturitas 1998; 29: 247–252.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Sowers M, Zheng H, Tomey K, Karvonen-Gutierrez C, Jannausch M, Li X et al. Changes in body composition in women over six years at midlife: ovarian and chronological aging. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2007; 92: 895–901.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Van Pelt RE, Jones PP, Davy KP, Desouza CA, Tanaka H, Davy BM et al. Regular exercise and the age-related decline in resting metabolic rate in women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997; 82: 3208–3212.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Lovejoy JC, Champagne CM, Smith SR, de Jonge L, Xie H . Ethnic differences in dietary intakes, physical activity, and energy expenditure in middle-aged, premenopausal women: the Healthy Transitions Study. Am J Clin Nutr 2001; 74: 90–95.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Saris WH, Blair SN, van Baak MA, Eaton SB, Davies PS, Di Pietro L et al. How much physical activity is enough to prevent unhealthy weight gain? Outcome of the IASO 1st Stock Conference and consensus statement. Obes Rev 2003; 4: 101–114.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Duval K, Prud'homme P, Rabasa-Lhoret R, Strychar I, Brochu M, Lavoie JM et al. Effects of the Menopausal Transition on Dietary Intake and Appetite. A MONET Group Study. EJCN 2012: Submitted.

  31. Owens JF, Matthews KA, Wing RR, Kuller LH . Can physical activity mitigate the effects of aging in middle-aged women? Circulation 1992; 85: 1265–1270.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Kohrt WM . Menopause medicine: exercise and weight gain. Geriatrics 2009; 64: 28–29.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Evans EM, Racette SB . Menopause and risk for obesity: how important is physical activity? J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2006; 15: 211–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Astrup A . Physical activity and weight gain and fat distribution changes with menopause: current evidence and research issues. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1999; 31 (Suppl. 11), S564–S567.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Simkin-Silverman LR, Wing RR, Boraz MA, Kuller LH . Lifestyle intervention can prevent weight gain during menopause: results from a 5-year randomized clinical trial. Ann Behav Med 2003; 26: 212–220.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). ACSM’s Resource Manual for Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription. 4th edn. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia, PA, USA, 2001.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the participants for their devoted participation and the staff of Behavioral and Metabolic Research Unit (BMRU) for their contribution to this study. We especially want to thank Ann Beninato for her significant role in the collection of the data and overall study coordination. This study was supported by CIHR (Canadian Institute for Health Research) Grants: 63279 MONET study (Montreal-Ottawa New Emerging Team). K Duval is a recipient of the FRSQ (Fonds de la recherche en Santé du Québec) Doctoral support program. R Rabasa-Lhoret is a recipient of the FRSQ clinical researcher scholarship and holds the J-A DeSève chair.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to É Doucet.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Duval, K., Prud'homme, D., Rabasa-Lhoret, R. et al. Effects of the menopausal transition on energy expenditure: a MONET Group Study. Eur J Clin Nutr 67, 407–411 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.33

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.33

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links