Those with big waists may need healthcare plan

People with big waists may need a healthcare plan in the future as they are at greater risk of life-threatening illness, new research has suggested.

According to a study by researchers at the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, having a thick midsection can significantly increase the chances of an early death.

Published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, the team studied the relationship between waist size and risk of death among 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and above.

After adjusting for other risk factors such as body mass index (BMI), they found that those with waists of 47in or more in men and 42in or more in women were around twice as likely to die over any nine-year period.

"A larger waist was associated with higher risk of death across all categories of BMI, including normal weight, overweight and obese; however, among women, the association was strongest for those at a normal weight," said lead author Eric J Jacobs.

It is thought that waist circumference may influence health as it is strongly correlated with fat tissue in the viscera – which surrounds organs in the abdomen and is thought to be more dangerous than fat tissue under the skin.

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