Interesting research on waist size

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-ZineMarch 30, 2008Men

Underestimate Their Waist Sizes

Men report that their waist circumferences are an average of 3.1 inches slimmer than they actually are, according to a study from University of Leicester in England (BBC News, February 29, 2008). They can die from this vanity. Storing fat in your belly is a major risk factor for diabetes that causes blindness, deafness, heart attacks, strokes, amputations and kidney disease. Almost all men who have more than three inches of fat underneath the skin over their bellies are either diabetic or pre-diabetic. More than 80 percent of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are overweight at the time of their diagnosis. Since insulin causes fat to be deposited primarily in the belly, storing more than three inches of fat underneath your skin is a sign of high insulin levels. Almost all type 2 diabetics who still make insulin go through periods of extremely high insulin levels long before their insulin levels drop. The disease is usually caused by inability to respond to insulin, so blood levels of insulin just keep on rising as a person gains weight. If these men would accept the existence of their fat bellies, they might recognize that they are at risk for diabetes and change their lifestyles before they develop complications from a potentially fatal disease.