Being overweight increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and maybe even some cancers. We all know that… although this knowledge doesn’t appear to be contributing to obesity rates, which continue to rise at a rather alarming rate.
The need to eliminate abdominal fat is of particular concern; Unlike fat in other areas, abdominal fat protects internal organs and releases hormones that promote inflammation. This phenomenon is more common in men than women, and experts have long been convinced that those who carry weight around their waists are at greater risk of health problems.
However, until now, the role of abdominal fat in disease risk was unclear, but it is no longer the case. The New England Journal of Medicine published a report based on initial European research that came to light in October 2008.
It seems that if you suffer from abdominal fat (also affectionately known as a spare tire, love handles, beer belly, or belly fat) you have a higher risk of death over a 10-year period compared to someone whose BMI (body mass index) matches your yours, but who doesn’t carry all that extra fat around the middle.
The study, carried out by a team of researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), looked at 359,387 people between the ages of 25 and 70 living in ten European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).
The primary role of EPIC is to look at the links between diet, nutritional status, lifestyle and environmental factors and the incidence of cancer and other chronic diseases.
They found that those with a higher BMI had a higher risk of dying during the 10-year study than normal-weight subjects… no surprise. But what was surprising was that when waist circumference and waist-hip ratios were isolated, these measures were also strongly associated with increased risk of dying. In fact, a 2-inch increase in waist measurement increased the risk of death by 17% for men and 13% for women, no matter how good your BMI is.
In fact, what was really surprising was that the link between belly fat and death was stronger in people who were a healthy weight for their height.
“I was surprised that even people who would be considered normal weight in terms of their [body mass index] are at increased risk of death if waist circumference is increased,” says Tobias Pischon, MD, lead author of the study and a member of the department of epidemiology at the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE).
So what should I do? Research from 2003 suggests that you can work to eliminate belly fat through a combination of increased dietary fiber intake and weight training. Also aiming to be more active in general with some form of exercise for 30 minutes each day and consuming less trans fat as part of your daily diet will help reduce your waistline and improve your health.