Your Waist Size and Your Health
Thursday, August 2, 2012 at 6:14AM
The body mass index (BMI) is the ratio of your weight in kilos to the square of your height in meters and can be used to determine if you’re at a healthy weight, overweight or obese. But two new studies from England suggest that doctors should set aside BMI and focus on their patients’ waist circumference when assessing health risks. One study, published online June 5, 2012, in the journal PLoS Medicine, found that the larger your waist circumference, the higher your risk of type 2 diabetes. The second study, published in the March 2012 issue of Obesity Reviews, suggested that keeping waist circumference to less than half your height can increase life expectancy. This study evaluated the health of 300,000 people and found that waist to height ratio was more predictive of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks and strokes than BMI. In addition to the two British studies, in 2010 American Cancer Society researchers reported that the larger your waist - regardless of your weight - the greater your risk of dying from cancer, heart disease and respiratory disease. To accurately determine your waist circumference measure mid-way between your lowest rib and the top of the pelvic bone at your hip.
My take? We’ve known for some time that a waist circumference of 35 inches or more for women and 40 inches or more for men is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, a collection of health concerns that when taken together dramatically increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. In addition to waist circumference, other indications of metabolic syndrome include fasting blood glucose at least 100 mg/dL, serum triglycerides at least 150 mg/dL, blood pressure at least 135/85mmHg and HDL ("good") cholesterol lower than 40 mg/dL for men or below 50 mg/dL for women.
Reader Comments (3)
This is an interesting post on something that I must say has bothered me for a while about BMI. As it is just based on weight and height, it doesn't take into account things such as muscle mass and other factors, which can mean you end up being classed as overweight when it is obvious you aren't.
Thanks for sharing and its good to see a bit of common sense being used!
- Gary
I have previously been content to maintain my waist size (in inches) below my age (in years). Clearly I need to recalibrate this equation.
But how much of one's waist size is also determined by one's overall, given, natural shape? I recently lost weight. At first it looked as though all was proportionately smaller, including my waist. Shortly after that, my body seemed to reconfigure itself and I was "suddenly" (it seemed) much wider in the waist. When I checked the scale to see if I'd regained weight, I had actually lost another 5 pounds! But it made no sense. Does body fat reproportion itself following weight loss? And had I measured my waist when I first lost the weight vs. a few weeks later when my waist "thickened," my interpretations of my health, in light of the interesting terms you raise, would have been quite contrary! Any light you could shed would be appreciated.