Disclosed is an absorbent article having a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, a pair of side seams, and a pair of leg openings, comprising: a front elastic belt transversely extending between the pair of side seams; a back elastic belt transversely extending between the pair of side seams; a
crotch region longitudinally extending between the front and back elastic belts; and an absorbent main body extending the entire longitudinal dimension of the
crotch region and further extending partly into each of the front region and the back region, the absorbent main body comprising a liquid pervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet, and an
absorbent material region sandwiched therebetween, the absorbent main body having a maximum
transverse dimension W2 which is from about 22%to about 50%of a
transverse dimension of the front elastic belt W1; the front belt divided into a
waist zone, a protective zone, and a buttock zone lined up from the distal edge to the proximal edge, each zone spanning in the transverse direction and defined by its location from the distal edge to the proximal edge relative to the percentage of a longitudinal dimension LS of the side seam, wherein elastic members are disposed on each of the
waist zone, the protective zone, and the buttock zone, the protective zone comprising a main portion and a
waist guard portion superposed with each other, the waist guard portion extending towards the
crotch region from a transversely extending closed end line towards an open edge, wherein the waist guard portion is partially bonded to the main portion to define a pair of closed side lines, wherein a front pocket is formed by the closed end line, the pair of closed side lines, and the open edge, the front pocket having an area A2 of from about 1%to about 10%, preferably from about 2%to about 6%of the front elastic belt having an area A1; and the closed end line and the closed side lines superpose the backsheet.