|
|
| |
| Free Weekly Newsletter | Post a Question on this Site |
 |
Home |  |
About |
|
Daily Program | |
Lifestyle Tips | |
Why VRP? | |
Order Products | |
Checkout |
|
Account Information | |
Security | |
|
· · |
Big waist circumference deadly Even among people with a normal weight, having a big belly can be deadly, a new study shows. "People should not only look at their weight, but also consider their waist," said Dr. Annemarie Koster of the National Institute on Aging, the lead researcher on the study. Being overweight or obese is clearly bad for one's health, but the best way to gauge whether a person's fatness is putting them at risk has been controversial, Koster and her team write in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Body mass index, or BMI, has been the standard measurement used, they add, but the way fat is distributed throughout the body -- especially at the waistline -- may be even more important than how many excess pounds a person is carrying. To investigate the relationship among belly fat, BMI and mortality, the researchers followed 245,533 men and women participating in the National Institutes of Health-American Association of Retired Persons study. Study participants ranged in age from 51 to 72 at the study's outset, and were followed for nine years. Among men, the researchers found, those in the top fifth based on their waist circumference were about 22 percent more likely to die during the study period than men with trimmer waistlines, independent of BMI. A similar risk was seen among women. In addition, people considered to be abdominally obese based on World Health Organization guidelines -- a waistline of 35 inches or more for women, or 40 inches or more for men -- were 20 percent more likely to die over the nine-year study than their peers with slimmer waists. The findings were true for smokers and non-smokers, healthy people and those with chronic illnesses, and across all the ethnic groups the researchers looked at, which included whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. In fact, there was evidence that mortality risk climbed more quickly with waist circumference among Asians, particularly men. While the danger of abdominal fat -- in particular visceral fat, which collects around the internal organs in the abdomen -- is becoming clear, Koster noted, the reason why a fat belly is bad for health is still not well understood. "More research is needed there," she said. SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, June 15, 2008 Dr. Cinque's comments: Consider: a guy could have a fat belly but be skinny in his arms and legs, resulting in his weight falling within normal parameters, even though he's clearly in dangerous shape. That's why we need to get away from focusing on weight. I'll always remember what Covert Bailey said in his book, Fit or Fat: a guy could be technically skinny (underweight) in terms of body mass index (BMI) but still be fat. He might have to get even skinnier, i.e. lose even more weight, to get where he belongs in terms of his lean to fat ratio. Of course, if he added significant muscle to his frame, that would be great, and it would change everything. But if he is not going to do that, then the very best thing would be for this relatively skinny guy to lose even more weight. E-mail to a friend Previous Article |
