Let's
face it - a lot of middle-aged guys have a little bit of a
"beer gut." While body mass index (BMI) is commonly used for
the classification of obese or overweight individuals, it
does not account for this type of body fat distribution, which
has been shown to be a strong predictor of disease risk factors.
A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
compared the relative values of BMI and waist circumference
for predicting cardiovascular disease and diabetes in almost
10,000 people, to determine which was more accurate. Results
of the study showed that in both men and women, waist circumference
was a better predictor than BMI when determining the health
impacts of excess body fat in overweight or obese patients.
Waist circumference accurately predicted odds for obesity-related
risk factors like poor cholesterol levels, high blood sugar
and high blood pressure.
You already know that being overweight is unhealthy. Now
you also know that being large around the middle, as opposed
to carrying extra weight in the hip region or elsewhere, may
be even more unhealthy. If you have a weight problem, go to
your doctor of chiropractic and ask for help. In addition
to maximizing your health, you'll probably enhance your current
quality of life.
Reference:
Zhu S, Wang Z, et al. Waist circumference and obesity-associated
risk factors among whites in the third National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey: Clinical action thresholds.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2002:76, pp.
743-749.
To read more about general health, go to https://www.chiroweb.com/find/archives/general.
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