Large Waist Size Doubles Risk of Premature Death

This is a very interesting article I ran across in Muscular Development magazine. The article explores new findings by the New England Journal of Medicine which examined the relationship between waist size and death rates.

"Sixty-six percent of Americans are obese or overweight. Excess fat increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, stroke, and sudden death. A large European population study that tracked nearly 400,000 people for nearly 10 years showed that fat distribution was more important than total fat for predicting the risk of death.

Researchers measured body mass index (BMI; a measure of the proportion of height to weight). waist circumference, and waist to hip ratio. They also gathered data on education level, smoking, alcohol consumption, and exercise. People with the highest waist circumference (top 25%) increased the risk of death during this period by 105%, while those with the highest waist to hip ratios increase their risk by 78%.

BMI, a rough measure of obesity, was also related to an increased risk of death, but it was not nearly as significant as markers of high abdominal fat. The lowest risk of death linked to BMI was 25.3 for men and 24.3 for women. Waist size is a simple and accurate measure for determining general health status and the relative risk of death." (New England Journal of Medicine, 359:2105-2120,2008)