The size of your belly can be a sign of how healthy you are, especially if you're of Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi south Asian origin. Find out how to measure your waist and what you can do to lose weight.
We all store spare body fat under the skin, and also around the vital organs in our abdomen. Some people tend to carry excess weight around their belly, making them an ‘apple’ shape, and others store weight around their thighs and bottom, making them a ‘pear’ shape.
Being apple-shaped is worse for your health than being pear-shaped. Having a large amount of fat around your belly makes you more likely to develop heart problems, diabetes and high blood pressure. This risk seems to be higher in people from south Asian communities.
"Research shows that fat around the belly of a south Asian person is more risky than the same amount of fat in a white person, putting them at increased risk of heart disease and diabetes," says Dr Justin Zaman of the South Asian Health Foundation and cardiologist at University College London Hospitals.
"This means that south Asian people are more likely to develop diabetes than white people. Putting on fat around the belly is risky, but we don't know why."
If you are of Bangladeshi, Indian, Sri Lankan or Pakistani origin and have extra weight around your belly, it’s worth thinking about how you can lose that weight to reduce risks to your health.
How healthy is your weight?
To get an idea of how healthy your weight is, find out:
- your body mass index (BMI)
- your waist measurement
BMI
BMI is a measure of how healthy your weight is for your height and gender. You can find out yours by using the BMI healthy weight calculator. Anyone with a BMI over 25 is considered to be overweight. However, the World Health Organization acknowledges that this can vary between different populations. The point at which BMI puts someone at risk of health problems varies from 23 to 25 for different Asian populations.
If you are concerned about your weight and would like advice, talk to your doctor.
Waist measurement
To find your waist, feel for your hip bone on one side of your body. Move upwards until you can feel the bones of your bottom rib. Halfway between is your waist. For most people this is where their tummy button is. Use a mirror the first time to see what you’re doing, and to make it easier to measure.
Cathy Moulton, a care adviser at Diabetes UK, says: “A healthy waist size for all women is 80cm (31.5in) or less. For south Asian men it’s 90cm (35in) or less, and for other men it's 94cm (37in) or less.”
What you can do
Anyone carrying excess weight, anywhere on the body, would find health benefits from losing that weight. It's particularly important that you change your diet (see 10 tips for a healthy diet) and do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, such as cycling or fast walking, every week.
This will improve your health, reduce your risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke, and increase your life expectancy.
Physical activity can improve the health of anyone who is overweight, and it's not just a matter of burning calories. Your heart, lungs and circulation will benefit, too.
Get tips on losing weight.
