Pot Bellies Contribute to Diabetes

Wed, 06 Jan 2010
90 per cent of Europeans are not aware that carrying extra fat around the tummy represents a serious health risk, so says a recent survey.

The report, published by the pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), says this weight, visceral fat, increases the likelihood of life threatening diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes .

ICM Research interviewed 12,161 adults across Europe aged 30 to 59, all at least 2lbs overweight.

Co-author David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum in the UK, states that "waist circumference is the best predictor of risk of future health". He adds that it's not just about being a 'big person': "You can have a high body mass index, but it can be misleading," he says.

It is important to work off abdominal fat.

Officially, the standard practice in the UK for gauging whether someone is obese is to measure their Body Mass Index (BMI).

However, it can be be misleading.

Together with the other report authors, he says that fat around the middle of the body is underestimated as a sign of future health.

For men health risks increase with a waist measurement of over 102 cm (40 inches) and over 88 cm (35 inches) for women.

For particular ethnic groups,health risks increase with a waist measurement of 90 cm (35 inches) and over for men and 80 cm (32 inches) and over for women.

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.