The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that obesity costs the United States at least $117 billion yearly. Sixty percent of Americans over the age of 30 are considered to be overweight, of which one-third are obese. The amount and location of fat you have affects your risk for a number of health conditions. People who tend to deposit fat in the abdominal region are more likely to suffer from adverse health conditions than people whose fat resides in the hips and thighs.
Body Shape
People who deposit fat in their hips and thighs are called pear shaped; those who deposit fat in the abdomen are called apple shaped. The apple shape seems to be dominant in men, but women can be either apple or pear shaped.
Measurements
Two ways to measure whether you are overweight or obese and how your body fat is distributed are by computing your body mass index and waist circumference. To figure your BMI, take your weight in pounds and multiply by 703. Compute your height in inches squared, or multiplied by itself. Divide your weight in pounds multiplied by 703 by your height in inches squared. A BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal and healthy. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, and a BMI above 30 is considered obese. To measure your waist circumference, pull a tape measure around your bare abdomen just above your hip bone. Pull it snugly without compressing your skin and make sure it is parallel to the floor. If you are a woman and your waist measurement is more than 35 inches, or if you are a man and your waist is more than 40 inches, you have a higher disease risk than people with smaller waist measurements because of where your fat lies.
Fat Distribution
The fat that accumulates in pear-shaped people is largely subcutaneous fat, while the fat of apple shapes is more visceral. Visceral fat has been associated with metabolic disturbances and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and the need for gallbladder surgery. You can grasp subcutaneous fat with your hand, but visceral fat lies deep inside the abdominal cavity, where it takes up residence in the spaces between the abdominal organs. For women, especially, abdominal fat tends to increase during the menopausal years, possibly due to declining estrogen production and increased androgens, or male hormones. Higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol are common after menopause as well, and cortisol promotes more abdominal fat.
Waist-to-Hip Ratios
Yet another way of determining body shape and disease risk is by figuring the waist to hip ratio. To figure this, divide your waist circumference by the hip circumference. Men with values above 1.00 are considered apple shaped, while those below 1.00 are considered pear shaped. For women, those above 0.80 are considered apple shaped, and those less than 0.80 are considered pear shaped. Abdominal fat cells tend to be larger than other body fat cells and are associated with insulin resistance. The rate of enzyme-initiated chemical reactions are higher for abdominal cells, making those cells more metabolically active. When they are released into the bloodstream, they can cause hyperlipidemia, or elevated blood lipids. Apple-shaped people have an easier time with weight loss than do pear-shaped people. Apple-shaped people benefit from the high turnover rate of abdominal fat, making it easier to relinquish their fat.
References
- Discovery's Edge: Comparing Apples and...Pears
- Weight-Control Information Network: Weight and Waist Measurement: Tools for Adults
- Harvard Health Publications: Abdominal Fat and What To Do About It
- American Council on Exercise: What Is The Significance of the Waist-to-Hip Ratio Measurement From a Health Risk Perspective?
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