Listen to your waistline

The health of your heart can be seen when you use a tape measure. Measuring your waist has been found to be a much better indication of the health of your heart rather than weighing yourself. This way of combating heart disease was found when an International study was conducted recently. The findings from the study were presented at the annual conference in Atalanta of the American College of Cardiology. 6 000 family doctors took part in the investigation. They measured the waistlines of 168 000 people, taking notes on family medical histories. It was found that the measurement of a person’s waistline was a far truer indication of the state of health of a person’s heart than the person’s weight. The study was conducted in 63 countries. The findings were that in men the risk of heart disease increased by between 21 and 40 per cent for 14 cm (5.5ins) increase in waist size. Women are not off the hook. For every 14.9 cm increase in the waistline the more the possibility of a heart attack. Doctors have known for some time that the more weight a person puts on the more likely they are to have heart problems. Why is this? If a person is overweight, the heart has to pump harder to get the blood around the body. This hard work will eventually wear the heart out.

So doctors have realised that if a person’s waistline is increasing it is a better indication that the patient is at risk of having read more