Ask Marilyn

My husband enjoys having a few beers with his buddies a couple of times a week. He knows them well, and he’s sure they drink alcohol only on those days. But some of them have beer bellies and others don’t. What could account for this?

—Sarah Mendel, Ames, Iowa Males are naturally leaner (have less subcutaneous fat spread around their bodies) than females. (Women are “softer.”) But both store fat in the belly area. So when men gain excess weight, it tends to enlarge their bellies, whereas the same amount of fat will spread more widely in women. Beer has plenty of calories, so it often gets the blame for the male paunch, but a more important cause is too many calories overall.