This Common Factor Is Linked to a 51% Higher Risk of Pelvic Floor Issues
Key takeaways
- Author: Ava Durgin May 01, 2026Assistant Health Editor By Ava Durgin Assistant Health Editor Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen.
- But the pelvic floor isn’t just a passive set of muscles that weaken over time.
- In this study, researchers wanted to go beyond the usual “higher weight equals higher risk” narrative and look more closely at body composition.
Why this matters: practical guidance grounded in recent research or expert insight.
Author: Ava Durgin May 01, 2026Assistant Health Editor By Ava Durgin Assistant Health Editor Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.Image by Jimena Roquero / Stocksy May 01, 2026You can do all the “right” things for your core and still feel caught off guard by your body. A laugh that turns into a leak. A workout that suddenly feels more complicated than it used to. For a lot of women, these moments get brushed off as something tied to aging or maybe a side effect of childbirth, something inevitable rather than something you can actually influence.
But the pelvic floor isn’t just a passive set of muscles that weaken over time. It’s active, responsive, and deeply connected to what’s happening in the rest of the body. And one of the biggest factors shaping how it functions may not be what you expect. It’s not just about weight. It’s about where that weight is carried.
In this study, researchers wanted to go beyond the usual “higher weight equals higher risk” narrative and look more closely at body composition. Instead of relying on BMI alone, they used DXA scans to measure where fat is actually stored in the body.