SKY News
Updated: 08:42, Tuesday November 29, 2005
Women may have to be given injections with longer needles - because their bottoms are getting too big.
Researchers say too much padding down below means jabs are not having the desired effect on the average female.
Too often the medicine is left stuck in the flab because the needles are unable to reach the muscle.
Growing obesity appears to be the problem - or put simply, plump rumps.
Two-thirds of the 50 patients in a study did not receive the medicine in their buttocks, researchers in Dublin said.
"There is no question that obesity is the underlying cause," said team leader Victoria Chan.
"We have identified a new problem related, in part, to the increasing amount of fat in patients' buttocks,"
"The amount of fat tissue overlying the muscles exceeds the length of the needles commonly used for these injections."
The 25 men and 25 women studied at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital ranged in age from 21 to 87.
The buttocks are a good place for injections because there are relatively few major blood vessels, nerves and bones that can be damaged by a needle.
More than 300 million people worldwide are obese.
The problem is worst in the US where it is estimated two in three adults are overweight or obese.
