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Is your weight a threat to your health? Do you have a tape measure? Here's a novel and easy way to check your heart disease risk:
Waist Circumference Helps Predict Cardiovascular Risk
Fri Oct 11, 4:07 PM ET
By Amanda Gardner
HealthScoutNews Reporter
Fri Oct 11, 4:07 PM ET
By Amanda Gardner
HealthScoutNews Reporter
FRIDAY, Oct. 11 (HealthScoutNews) -- If you want to determine your risk for cardiovascular disease, maybe you should throw out your scale and grab the measuring tape.
A study appearing in a recent issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (news - web sites) suggests waist circumference is more strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors than body mass index (BMI).
"There's been some research that shows that it may not be the total amount of fat in your body but where it is stored. In other words, fat distribution," says Stanley Heshka, a co-author of the study and a research associate at the New York Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.
Body mass index (the measure of body fat based on height and weight) is the most widely used gauge to tell if adults are overweight or obese. Meanwhile, various studies have found body fat distribution is a better predictor for many diseases.
In the new study, the researchers looked at information on white men and women gathered for NHANES III, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which collected data on the health and nutrition of 9,019 Americans. Then the researchers correlated BMI values of 25 and 30 (which indicate overweight and obese, respectively) with cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors. They set out to determine what waist circumferences have the same degree of risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes as the BMI guidelines.
To minimize the risk of heart disease, men should not go above a 35-inch waist and women should not go above 33 inches, Heshka says. Men whose waists are 39 inches or more and women whose waists are 37 inches or more should lose weight -- and inches, he says.
Though the study data involved exquisitely precise measurements (taken just above the top of the hip bone and at the end of a normal exhalation), regular folks don't need to be quite that exact. If you come close to the recommended cutoff points, though, you need to take them seriously, Heshka cautions.
To learn more about cardiovascular disease, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). www.cdc.gov
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Best wishes. Dr. Rehert
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