Belly Fat Health Risk

Thanks to a recent national focus on the dangers of obesity, you may be aware of the condition's potential impact on your health. But you may not be aware of what makes belly fat unique from other body fat, or how an excess of belly fat specifically contributes to your health risks.

Features

Belly fat isn't like other fat on your body. The fat on your arms, legs, thighs and hips is a moderately benign type of fat, called subcutaneous fat, that sits in a layer between your skin and your muscles. Belly fat is visceral fat: a thick fat that extends deep into your abdomen and envelops your internal organs.

Causes

The Mayo Clinic indicates that there are different reasons for belly fat in men and women. For men, excess belly fat is mostly due to lifestyle issues like a lack of exercise and an overindulgence in food and/or alcohol. In women, belly fat is believed to be caused mainly by heredity. This means that certain women are genetically predisposed to gain excess weight in their abdomens instead of more common places like their hips, thighs and bottoms. Hormonal fluctuations that are unique to women, such as those that accompany menopause, are also believed to be a culprit.

Risks

There is a laundry list of health risks for both men and women associated with excess belly fat. The Mayo Clinic warns that belly fat can increase insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. The hormones secreted by visceral fat cells can cause metabolic disorders. In addition, though doctors are still not sure exactly why, belly fat makes a person more prone to strokes, some cancers, high levels of bad cholesterol and low levels of "good" cholesterol, high blood pressure, gall bladder problems and high triglycerides, which is an excess of fat in the blood. Belly fat can also cause sleep apnea, a potentially dangerous condition in which a person stops breathing periodically during sleep.

Identification

You body mass index, or BMI, which is a measurement of your weight-to-height ratio, can be used to determine your risk level, as can your waist-to-hip ratio. But you can assess your risk just by measuring your waist. Women with a waist size of more than 33 inches and men with a waist size of more than 40 inches are at a much higher risk of related health problems than those with smaller waists.

Prevention/Solution

A lower-fat diet and increased exercise are the most effective ways to prevent and get rid of excess belly fat. Crunches and sit-ups will strengthen your core muscles and improve your posture, but they will do little to rid you of visceral fat. Sustained cardiovascular exercise has been shown to be the best weapon against belly fat. Anne McTiernan, lead researcher of a study on visceral fat reduction by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, recommends 30 to 45 minutes of brisk walking five days a week, and suggests that 60 minutes of brisk walking will result in even more fat loss.