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The Expanding American Waistline
September 29, 2014Average waist circumference — but not body mass index— increased significantly in the United States between 1999 and 2012, a new study reports.
Abdominal obesity — a “beer belly” or “beer gut” — is caused by fat around the internal organs. It is one of the indicators of metabolic syndrome, a group of five conditions that raises the risk for heart disease and diabetes.
After adjusting for age, the overall mean waist circumference increased to 38.7 inches in 2012 from 37.5 in 1999. The increases were significant for men, women, non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks and Mexican-Americans. They were greatest among non-Hispanic whites in their 40s, and non-Hispanic black men in their 30s.
“I would encourage people to keep track of their waists,” said the lead author of the study, Dr. Earl S. Ford, a medical officer with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Standing on the scale every day is all good and well, but you can have a steady weight and still have an expanding waist. And that should be a signal for people to start looking at their diet and physical activity.”
In 2012, 54.2 percent of Americans had abdominal obesity (defined as an age-adjusted waist circumference of more than 40 inches for men and more than 34.6 for women) compared with 46.4 percent in 1999. The study was published in JAMA.
(Source: well.blogs.nytimes.com)