Over at Fox News, Lis Wiehl has written an important and thought-provoking piece on “appearance discrimination” and the double standard that still operates when it comes to men and women of a certain age.

Lis points out that men don’t worry about aging or sporting a few grey hairs and some extra pounds, even in the television industry. Women in a high-profile job, such as news anchor, are judged on everything including appearance. But studies (such as that done by New York University researchers Dalton Conley and Rebecca Glauber regarding the effects of body weight on economic outcomes) seem to indicate that, for women, appearance is linked to income in all sorts of careers.

Following the recent installation of Katie Couric as anchor of the nightly news at CBS, much of the furor involved publicity photos that were altered to make her appear thinner.

And her detractors are still deciding if this cheery blond is tough enough (read: man enough) to take the helm of a serious news program. Sharks have been snapping at everything from the color of her hair to the length of her skirt.

Wiehl points out that critics have been kinder to Meredith Viera, whom NBC has chosen to replace Couric on the “Today” show, but possibly because she is replacing another woman and not a man.

Our current laws must go a step further and protect women from discrimination as most of us eventually gain a few pounds and add a few gray hairs — and all of us age. As for Katie, I think she’ll do just fine — not because she got a new hairdo or “lost” twenty pounds, but because she’s a newswoman with character and content. And ask yourself, would we even be having this discussion if Meredith were “Murray” and Katie were “Ken?”

A Big Fat Double Standard - Lis Wiehl

After age 45 the battle is on against the spreading middle of middle age. Women tend to gain weight in the years between the mid-40s and mid-50s and have a harder time losing excess weight. But it seems as if something that women in that age group may already be doing to prevent osteoporosis may also help keep extra pounds off.

A study found that women taking calcium supplements gained less weight than women who did not supplement their calcium intake. Although researchers say it is too soon to count calcium as a prescription for weight control, there are plenty of good reasons for post-menopausal women to take calcium supplements and now there may be one more benefit to add to calcium’s list.

Read about the study at WebMD

Does it seem that the only time that anyone pays attention to Boomers is when they have found something else to warn us about?

Two studies, one done at Harvard University and the other by the National Cancer Institute are being cited to warn Baby Boomers that any amount of excess fat can kill them.

This is in direct contradiction to a study done by the CDC last year, which showed that people who were overweight but not obese had lower mortality rates than people who were of normal weight. The conclusion was that, in older individuals, a little cushion of weight was protective.

So, which do we believe?

Last week the British medical journal, The Lancet, published a study from the Mayo clinic that concluded that overweight was the healthiest weight category with lower mortality than for those classified as normal weight, obese or underweight.

The two studies that declare any excess weight to be a killer both utilize the BMI or body mass index to classify people into weight categories. They also relied on participants’ own reports of their height and weight. I don’t know about you, but this is generally something I lie about. But consider also that the BMI does not take into account muscle mass or where body fat is located. Using BMI statistics, Arnold Schwarzenegger is obese.

Women are told that after 40 we can expect changes in metabolism making it harder to keep excess weight off and because of this, doctors are concerned that middle-aged women are developing eating disorders. With headlines like “Overweight Boomers Risk Early Death”, are they surprised?

Sexuality doesn’t cease after fifty but women do experience physiological changes that may alter their sex lives. The key to remaining sexually active is knowing what changes to expect and how to adjust to them.

Lower levels of estrogen and progestin that cause the symptoms that women experience during menopause - hot flashes, for instance - also result in thinning of the vaginal walls and reduced secretions during sexual activity. There are products that will remedy vaginal dryness, so ask your pharmacist.

What menopause doesn’t do is affect your sexual desire. Women who are menopausal do not suddenly lose interest in sex. If you are menopausal, talk to your doctor about hormone replacement therapy. If your doctor agrees that HRT is right for you , it can lessen the effects of menopause and relieve some of the symptoms.