Measure used for a long time and advocated by the WHO, thebody mass index (BMI) would actually not be so reliable. It divides people into four categories. You can easily calculate your BMI by dividing your weight (in kg) by your height (in m) squared. A healthy weight is between 18.5 and 24.9, underweight less than 18, overweight between 25 and 29.9 and obesity a score greater than or equal to 30.
But according to researchers, this measure would not be the best indicator because it does not “does not take fat distribution into account.. “This could mean that someone who has accumulated fat around their waist will have the same BMI as someone of the same age and height who stores their fat around their hips, despite the health risks of fat. abdominal”said Ifran Khan, lead author of the study presented at the meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Stockholm.
Indeed, a meta-analysis published in September 2020 in the British Medical Journal had shown that this abdominal fat could increase the risk of premature death : each increase of 10 centimeters of abdominal fat increases the risk by 8% in women and 10% in men. It would also increase the risk of certain cancers, including cancer of the uterus in women, type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Too high a waist-to-hip ratio increases the risk of premature death
According to the researchers, the BMI should thus be abandoned in favor of the waist to hip ratio. But what is it exactly? With a tape measure, measure the circumference of your waist (the smallest width of your natural waist, generally above the navel) then that of your hips (the widest part at the level of your buttocks). Then divide the waist circumference by the hip circumference to calculate the ratio.
The indicators are different for men and women.
In women:
- A low risk of premature death is associated with a score of 0.8 or less.
- Between 0.81 and 0.85, the risk is moderate,
- Then pupil once the score is above 0.85.
At men’s :
- THE low risk is 0.95 or less,
- moderate from 0.96 to 1
- And pupil for 1 or more.
Judging the waist-to-hip ratio can thus help a person determine if they have excess weight around the waist. The study followed the medical records of more than 50,000 deceased adults. The researchers measured the likelihood of a person dying prematurely based on their BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, or body fat index.
Results: a higher waist-to-hip ratio increased the risk of death in a linear fashion. By comparison, those with an extremely high or low lower BMI or fat mass index had a higher risk of death than those in the middle. “Recommendations should prioritize goal setting related to waist-to-hip ratio rather than general BMI goals“, ends Ifran Khan.
Source :
- Waist-to-hip ratio better predicts early death than BMI – and should replace BMI as a simple measure of healthy weight, DiabetologySeptember 21, 2022
