Hip size may be the key to link between obesity and premature death
January 23, 2012 in HealthA research team led by Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute has for the first time demonstrated that the effect of obesity on the risk of premature death is seriously underestimated unless a person's hip circumference is taken into account.
By looking at the relationship between waist and hip circumference* in a 20-year study of almost 8000 Mauritians, the research is also the first ever study to link obesity to mortality in a South Asian population.
The study was a collaboration between researchers from Australia, Sweden, Mauritius, Finland, the UK and Denmark, with the findings just published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Good evidence now exists to show that the fat tissue in the hip has quite different metabolic properties in comparison with fat tissue around the waist and is in fact protective against metabolic disorders such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Higher hip circumference can also reflect greater muscle mass.
"We knew that higher hip circumference was protective against metabolic diseases such as diabetes as well as death. However, we did not know that taking waist and hip circumference into account separately (as opposed to using the waist-to-hip ratio*) would reveal such a powerful association between obesity and mortality," said lead author of the study, Dr Adrian Cameron from Deakin University.
"In other words, a person with big hips and a small waist is at the lowest end of the risk scale and people with small hips and a large waist are at the highest risk.
"By accounting for the protective effect of hip circumference, we are able to isolate the negative health risks of central (abdominal) obesity which is measured by the waist circumference. It appears that this form of obesity is more dangerous than we ever thought, particularly in this South Asian population," concurred Associate Professor Stefan Söderberg from Umeå University, Sweden.
"I think we all need to realise that the waist circumference is only half the story when it comes to obesity. Hip circumference is clearly just as important and when we consider them both, that's when we see just how dangerous obesity really is," concluded Professor Paul Zimmet, Director Emeritus and Director International Research at Baker IDI. Prof. Zimmet initiated the study in Mauritius almost 25 years ago.
More information: http://ije.oxfordjournals.org/
Journal reference:
International Journal of Epidemiology
Provided by Deakin University
-
Waist-hip ratio better than BMI for gauging obesity in elderly
Sep 01, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Body fat distribution associated with a higher risk of ER-negative breast cancer
Dec 15, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Degree of obesity raises risk of stroke, regardless of gender, race
Jan 21, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
A little belly fat can double the risk of death in coronary artery disease patients
May 02, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Apple shaped obesity as bad for heart as other obesity
Mar 11, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Limits to growth: Scientists identify key metastasis-enabling enzyme
May 22, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
0
-
Seeing is as seeing does: Spatially-structured retinal input in early development of cortical maps
Apr 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (4) |
1
-
Dreamless nights: Brain activity during nonrapid eye movement sleep
Apr 09, 2012 |
4.4 / 5 (12) |
0
-
Take your time: Neurobiology sheds light on the superiority of spaced vs. massed learning
Mar 28, 2012 |
4.5 / 5 (21) |
3
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Keep food safety in mind this memorial day weekend
(HealthDay) -- Picnics, parades and cookouts are as much a part of Memorial Day weekend as tributes to the United States' war veterans.
Health
3 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Most occupational injury and illness costs are paid by the government and private payers
UC Davis researchers have found that workers' compensation insurance is not used nearly as much as it should be to cover the nation's multi-billion dollar price tag for workplace illnesses and injuries. Instead, almost 80 ...
Health
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
Early physical therapist treatment associated with reduced risk of healthcare utilization and reduced overall healthcare
A new study published in Spine shows that early treatment by a physical therapist for low back pain (LBP), as compared to delayed treatment, was associated with reduced risk of subsequent healthcare utilization and lower ...
Health
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
|
Cancer patients share web info with docs for insight, advice
(HealthDay) -- Cancer patients' primary goal in talking with their doctors about information they've found on the Internet is to get more insight and advice on the online information, new research indicates.
Health
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
P&G to add latches to make detergent packs safer
(AP) -- Procter & Gamble says it will change the design of packaging for its miniature laundry detergent product to deter children from eating the brightly colored packets that look like candy.
Health
May 25, 2012 |
not rated yet |
0
Travel to high altitudes tied to Crohn's, colitis flare-ups
(HealthDay) -- People with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and colitis, may be at increased risk for flare-ups when they fly or travel to high altitudes for skiing or mountain climbing, ...
Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity
(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...
Transvaginal mesh op restores pelvic organ prolapse at price
(HealthDay) -- Transvaginal mesh (TVM) procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery, according to ...
Of mice and mental models: Neuroscientific implications of risk-optimized behavior in the mouse
(Medical Xpress) -- Regardless of an organism’s biological complexity, every encephalized animal continuously makes under-informed behavioral choices that can have serious consequences. Despite its ubiquity, ...
Weight struggles? Blame new neurons in your hypothalamus
New nerve cells formed in a select part of the brain could hold considerable sway over how much you eat and consequently weigh, new animal research by Johns Hopkins scientists suggests in a study published in the May issue ...
Thioridazine kills cancer stem cells in human while avoiding toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments
A team of scientists at McMaster University has discovered a drug, thioridazine, successfully kills cancer stem cells in the human while avoiding the toxic side-effects of conventional cancer treatments.