The perils of a pot belly

By JENNY HOPE

Last updated at 16:29 14 August 2007


Getting out the tape measure could save your life in the battle of the bulge, say researchers.

They claim it is better to check your waist measurement than get on the bathroom scales to keep heart disease in check.

Carrying even a small 'pot belly' means a high risk of heart

problems even when body weight is in the normal range, according to a study of almost 3,000 people.

It shows that three or four inches extra around the abdomen is the external sign of a build-up of fat in the arteries, and provides the

clearest evidence yet of a direct relationship between additional inches on the waist and furred-up arteries.

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Those with the biggest waist measurements were twice as likely to have calcium deposits in the arteries, which form the plaque that hardens the arteries and increases the risk of heart attacks.

There was triple the risk of buildup in the aorta - the body's main artery - in those with the largest waists. The research, carried out at the University of Texas

Southwestern Medical Centre in Dallas, was published yesterday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Many experts now want waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio, which indicates levels of abdominal fat, adopted as a more accurate guide than body mass index, which relates weight to height.

Fat packed around the organs in the abdomen is more dangerous than fat on the hips because it's 'metabolically active', releasing more of the acids that raise heart disease risk.

Dr James de Lemos, director of the coronary care unit at the centre, said middle-aged spread was a sign of increasing risk of heart problems.

He added: "In our 30s and 40s, we often gain three to four inches in the midsection. It's a day-to-day, meal-to-meal battle, but it's worth fighting. Even a small pot belly puts us at higher risk when compared to a flat tummy."

Dr de Lemos and his researchers examined data from the ongoing Dallas Heart Study involving 2,744 men and women with an average age of 45.

Using CT scans, they found that the likelihood of there being calcium deposits in the

arteries grew in direct proportion with the increase in waist-to-hip ratio.

Even when factors such as blood pressure, diabetes, age, high cholesterol levels and whether a

person smoked were taken into account, the link remained strong.

As a rough guide to healthy waist circumference, doctors regard over 40 inches for a man and 35 for a woman as danger signs.

Hip-to-waist ratio can be worked out by measuring hips at the widest part of the hip bones, and the waist above the crest of the upper hip bones and below the navel.

Divide waist by hip measurement to get the ratio. A ratio equal to, or lower than, 0.7 for women and 0.9 for men is a sign of general health.

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