By Sola Ogundipe What do you weigh? Do you have a big or small waistline? Whatever the answer, this should interest you.
Most people assess their weight with a quick glance at the bathroom scale. If the number falls within a comfortable range, they assume there’s little cause for concern. But health experts say the bathroom scale doesn’t always reveal what’s really going on.
In many cases, a tape measure wrapped around the waist can offer a far more accurate picture of a person’s health. What your waistline is really telling you In many Nigerian households, a protruding stomach is still viewed as a sign of prosperity, comfort or successful ageing. Medical evidence increasingly suggests otherwise.
That expanding waistline may be one of the earliest warning signs of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, joint problems and fertility challenges. Obesity affects both men and women, but women bear a much heavier burden. For years, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has repeatedly warned that excess body fat, especially around the waist, significantly increases the risk of non-communicable diseases, cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and certain forms of cancer.
Waist circumference is often a more reliable predictor of health risk than body weight alone because it provides a clearer indication of how much fat is stored around vital internal organs. More than a weight problem The problem isn’t simply excess weight but where that weight is carried and a growing body of evidence points to abdominal fat, commonly known as belly fat, as one of the strongest predictors of future health problems. A person may not appear particularly overweight, yet a steadily expanding waistline could be signalling serious trouble beneath the surface.
More than half of adult Nigerian women are believed to have excess abdominal fat, compared with about 13 percent of men. Unlike fat stored elsewhere in the body, abdominal fat is metabolically active. It doesn’t simply sit beneath the skin.
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