EVEN AT HEALTHY WEIGHT EXCESS BELLY FAT INCREASES RISK OF PREMATURE DEATH

New research indicates normal weight people with excess fat around the waistline appear to be at higher risk of early death than overweight or obese people.  Previous research has definitively found that overweight and obese persons with central obesity (defined as a waist greater than 40 inches in men and a waist over 35 inches in women) are at increased risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes but it has not been well understood the extent to which an apple shape body type in a normal weight individual increases chronic disease risk.

The study was based on data from a national survey of 15,000 adults ages 18 to 90.  Participants’ weight, hip and waist measurements were measured periodically over 14 years.  At every BMI level, people with thicker middles had a higher risk of death than those with trimmer waists.  Notably, normal weight adults with central obesity had the worst long-term survival.  Normal weight women with abdominal obesity were 32% more likely to die over the study period than overweight/obese women with a pear-shaped body type and for men those with normal weight but central obesity were 87% more likely to die.   

Why is central obesity, even at normal weight so deadly?  Centrally located fat often accumulates inside the abdomen around organs such as the liver, pancreas and intestines.  This internal fat (known as visceral fat) interferes with the proper functioning of these organs, impacting blood cholesterol and the sensitivity of the body to insulin.  Visceral fat also leads to an increase in leptin, the hormone that normally functions to signal our brains that we are full.  Unfortunately, because elevated visceral fat releases an excess of leptin, the brain stops responding to leptin so that individuals do not feel full and are likely to overeat, precipitating greater weight gain around the middle.

What to do:  Measure your waist to assess your risk.  Check out our website (www.nycheartcenter.com) for detailed directions on how to measure waist size.  If yours is greater than 40 inches for men or 35 inches for women, work on losing weight.  Contrary to common perception, doing abdominal exercises will build muscle in the abdominal region but will not reduce fat around the middle. The best way to lose abdominal fat is to avoid smoking and excessive alcohol consumption, to consume a healthy calorie-controlled Mediterranean-style diet (i.e. a diet rich in plant foods and plant-based fats and low in refined carbohydrates) and to do regular, preferably vigorous, cardiovascular activity.  Fortunately, cardiovascular activity appears to preferentially mobilize visceral abdominal fat.   

Sources:

Poirier P. The many paradoxes of our modern world: Is there really an obesity paradox or is it only a matter of adiposity assessment?. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2015;163:880-881. DOI:10.7326/M15-2435

Sahakyan KR, Somers VK, Rodriguez-Escudero JP, et al.  Normal-weight central obesity: Implications for total and cardiovascular mortality. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2015;163:827-835. DOI:10.7326/M14-2525

Adapted from articles available at:

http://consumer.healthday.com/vitamins-and-nutrition-information-27/obesity-health-news-505/belly-fat-can-up-risk-of-early-death-even-in-normal-weight-folks-705093.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/11/the-health-dangers-of-a-spare-tire/415194/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/even-if-youre-thin-excess-belly-fat-can-raise-your-death-risk/2015/11/16/516df774-87ca-11e5-9a07-453018f9a0ec_story.html

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/articles/2015/11/09/belly-fat-is-bad-even-at-a-normal-weight