Large waistline, shorter lifeline

Thursday November 13th, 2008

By Leigh Parry

A large waistline can almost double your risk of premature death, even if your weight is in the 'normal' range, British researchers warn today.

The study of more than 350,000 people is strong evidence that storing extra waistline fat is a significant health risk, even in people not considered to be obese.

The findings suggested doctors should measure a patient's waistline, hips and body mass index as part of standard health checks, said researchers from Imperial College London, the German Institute of Human Nutrition and other European research insitutions.

The body mass index measures weight in relation to height.

Professor Elio Riboli from Imperial College London said the risk of premature death was about double for people with a larger waist (more than 120 cm for men and more than 100 cm for women) compared with those with a smaller waist.

Each five cm increase in waist circumference increased risk of death by 17 per cent in men and 13 per cent in women, the New England Journal of Medicine study has found.

The higher risk may be related to storing fat around the waistline because fatty tissue in this are secretes cytokines, hormones and metabolically active compounds that can contribute to the development of chronic diseases, particular heart disease and cancer.

"Although smaller studies have suggested a link between mortality and waist size, we were surprised to see the waist size having such a powerful effect on people's health and premature death," Professor Riboli said.He said the good news was that patients didn't need expensive tests to assess this health aspect - it costs virtually nothing to measure waist and hip size.

N Engl J Med 2008;359:2105-20

Tags: Europe | Heart Health | UK News

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