People who maintain normal weight according to body mass index (BMI), but have high waistlines could be at risk for various health issues such as cardiovascular disease and obesity-related cancer.
The study, published in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association's JAMA Network Open, finds that a subgroup of people who are considered to be normal weight as measured by body mass index (BMI) could actually be at high risk for death because of their waist size.
Obesity
Obesity is a condition where there is excess accumulation of body fat which poses a risk to the health of the individual. It can affect children and adults.
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‘Women with normal weight but larger waist sizes were found to be 31% were more like to die within two decades of observation due to obesity-related diseases.’
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Wei Bao, professor of epidemiology in the UI College of Public Health and the study's corresponding author, says that according to current clinical guidelines, physicians need rely only on BMI to determine obesity-related health risk. This leaves people who are actually in a high-risk group because of other risk factors, such as percentage of body fat, thinking they're healthy.
"The results suggest we should encourage physicians to look not only at bodyweight but also body shape when assessing a patient's health risks," says Bao.
The study used data from the Women's Health Initiative, which tracked the health of more than 156,000 women between the ages of 50 and 79 from 1993 to 2017. Bao and his team linked mortality rates to the respondents' BMI as well as their central obesity, which is the excess accumulation of fat around a person's midsection that has been linked to an array of health problems and is measured by waist circumference.
![Malnutrition to Obesity - The Big Leap]( "Malnutrition to Obesity - The Big Leap")
Obesity is the root cause of problems like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and gall bladder disease. A serious look at our strategies is needed to tackle this fast growing epidemic.
Women who were considered normal weight on the BMI scale but had a high waist circumference were found to be 31 percent more likely to die within the two-decade observation period. That's comparable to the 30 percent increased likelihood that an obese person with central obesity--considered to be in the highest risk group--will die within 20 years of observation.
The study found that the two primary causes of death in people who had healthy BMI but high waist size were cardiovascular diseases and obesity-related cancer. This study is so far the largest to identify people with normal-weight central obesity as a high-risk subgroup for death. The findings of cardiovascular death and death from any cause mostly confirm a similar study published in 2015 by researchers at the Mayo Clinic that was based on a much smaller population.
Bao says the study demonstrates the limitations of BMI when determining a person's risk for health problems. While it's a simple number to understand and easy to determine--it involves only height and weight--it isn't always accurate because it doesn't include other important numbers, such as the percentage of body fat or where that fat has accumulated on the body.
It's not unusual for people with a high BMI score to be in excellent health because the bulk of their weight is muscle--football linemen, for instance. At the same time, as this study indicates, people who are in the normal range on BMI could still have a high percentage of body fat, putting them in a high-risk group.
Despite these limitations, BMI has become the standard for health care providers and health policymakers when measuring obesity-related health risks. Bao says this focus on BMI leaves many people in the dark about the dangers from central obesity.
"People with normal weight based on BMI, regardless of their central obesity, were generally considered normal in clinical practice according to current guidelines," Bao says. "This could lead to a missed opportunity for risk evaluation and intervention programs in this high-risk subgroup."
Source: Eurekalert
Malnutrition to Obesity - The Big Leap
Obesity is the root cause of problems like diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis and gall bladder disease. A serious look at our strategies is needed to tackle this fast growing epidemic.
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Women who were considered normal weight on the BMI scale but had a high waist circumference were found to be 31 percent more likely to die within the two-decade observation period. That's comparable to the 30 percent increased likelihood that an obese person with central obesity--considered to be in the highest risk group--will die within 20 years of observation.
The study found that the two primary causes of death in people who had healthy BMI but high waist size were cardiovascular diseases and obesity-related cancer. This study is so far the largest to identify people with normal-weight central obesity as a high-risk subgroup for death. The findings of cardiovascular death and death from any cause mostly confirm a similar study published in 2015 by researchers at the Mayo Clinic that was based on a much smaller population.
Bao says the study demonstrates the limitations of BMI when determining a person's risk for health problems. While it's a simple number to understand and easy to determine--it involves only height and weight--it isn't always accurate because it doesn't include other important numbers, such as the percentage of body fat or where that fat has accumulated on the body.
It's not unusual for people with a high BMI score to be in excellent health because the bulk of their weight is muscle--football linemen, for instance. At the same time, as this study indicates, people who are in the normal range on BMI could still have a high percentage of body fat, putting them in a high-risk group.
Despite these limitations, BMI has become the standard for health care providers and health policymakers when measuring obesity-related health risks. Bao says this focus on BMI leaves many people in the dark about the dangers from central obesity.
"People with normal weight based on BMI, regardless of their central obesity, were generally considered normal in clinical practice according to current guidelines," Bao says. "This could lead to a missed opportunity for risk evaluation and intervention programs in this high-risk subgroup."
Source: Eurekalert
Ideal Waist to Height Ratio
Waist to height ratio Calculator is a simple health tool to assess risk of Heart diseases, metabolic disorders. Waist to height ratio calculates your body fat distribution.
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 Waist Stature Ratio can Determine Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Healthy MenEven in physically active men, a higher waist stature ratio (WSR) that coincides with the risk threshold predisposes them to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases in them. | Advertisement
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