Belly fat or abdominal fat found in most middle-aged men and a fair proportion of women is associated with a number of health risks that should be avoided. It’s important to know what these health risks are and what levels of belly or abdominal fat incur those risks. Such knowledge is helpful in motivating action to control belly fat but it’s the behavior to prevent or reduce it that really counts. The “apple” shaped body is not the safest one to have.
What Belly Fat Is
Obvious belly fat is often called a pot belly, beer belly, or a spare tire and is both unsightly and unhealthy.
Those with apple shapes (mainly men) tend to accumulate fat around the middle. Some belly fat is subcutaneous, lying just beneath the skin, but most is visceral, located within the abdominal wall. Subcutaneous belly fat does not look good, but visceral belly fat is more dangerous and is responsible for greater health risks. The visceral belly fat surrounds the abdominal organs and is more biologically active, and more likely to affect hormonal balance.
Pear-shaped bodies (mainly women) accumulate fat around the hips and thighs and that fat is subcutaneous. But many women also tend to add belly fat as they pass menopause. So both genders need to be concerned with controlling their accumulation of belly fat. “Middle-aged spread” needs to be strongly resisted.
Why Belly Fat is Dangerous
According to The Mayo Clinic, a large amount of belly fat increases a person’s risk of many conditions, including:
- heart disease
- stroke
- type 2 diabetes
- some types of cancer, including breast cancer and colorectal cancer
- insulin resistance
- high triglycerides
- low levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol
- metabolic syndrome
- sleep apnea
- gallbladder problems (women)
In addition, a recent study uncovered a connection between central obesity, particularly visceral belly fat, with risk of dementia including Alzheimer’s disease. (American Neurological Association press release, May 20, 2010) Even worse, a 2008 study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine discovered that people with the most belly fat had about twice the risk of dying prematurely as did those with the least amount of belly fat.
Obesity itself incurs many of these risks, too, but belly fat increases the risks and must be controlled to counter its greater health threats.
Measuring and Monitoring Belly Fat
According to the Weight-control Information Network (WIN), men with waist sizes of more than 40 inches (high belly fat) and women with waist sizes of more than 35 inches (high belly fat) are more likely to develop health problems. To measure waist size:
- Use a soft tape measure.
- Measure the bare abdomen just above the hip bone.
- Pull the tape snug but don’t let it compress the skin.
- Keep the tape parallel to the floor.
- Relax, exhale, take the measurement.
Each two-inch increase in waist circumference was associated with nearly a 17% increased chance of early death in men and 13% increase for women. (Study reported in 2008, New England Journal of Medicine)
Preventing and Controlling Abdominal Obesity
Fortunately, belly fat is the easiest fat to lose since it is burned more readily in exercise than fat from other areas. The primary method of preventing and reducing belly fat is through aerobic exercise. Regular, moderate-intensity aerobic exercise like brisk walking every day for 30 to 90 minutes is the key to burning lots of fat and especially losing belly fat.
A second major strategy for preventing and reducing belly fat is to engage in strength training two or three days a week. Using weights, weight machines, or calisthenics helps retain and add muscle, the metabolically most active tissue in the body, besides burning more calories, too.
The third strategy to control belly fat is to follow a sensible eating plan like The Mayo Clinic Diet. Limiting fattening foods and alcohol can significantly reduce the calories a person consumes on a daily basis. Controlling portion sizes is another important factor in eating smarter.
Reduce Belly Fat to Lower Health Risks
People who desire to be healthy, want a high quality of life, and wish to live longer can help achieve those goals by reducing or preventing the accumulation of belly fat which is dangerous independent of a person’s total weight. The surest way to reduce the serious health risks of belly fat is to engage in regular aerobic exercise that not only burns fat calories but burns a higher proportion of those calories from belly fat. Strength training is also beneficial as is controlling the quantity and quality of food and drink consumed.
Sources:
mayoclinic.com, “Belly fat in men: Why weight loss matters” (accessed June 7, 2010)
mayoclinic.com, “Belly fat in women: How to keep it off” (accessed June 7, 2010)
Robert McKelvie - My experience in business and pursuit of learning over the years enables me to share some of my knowledge via the web.
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