Waist circumference and height can predict chronic disease

Did you know that now you can find out your risk of diabetes, heart disease, or other chronic diseases just by measuring your waist circumference? It's no longer with a weight scale, but with a clothes meter, you can already tell whether you are in danger or not. How to?

What diseases can be predicted by waist circumference?

So far, the standard of nutritional and health status is more often seen from the value of body mass index (BMI). If a person has an excessive body mass index, it can be said that that person has overweight or obesity. Meanwhile, when someone is obese or overweight , then the risk they have for various chronic diseases is increasing, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, heart attack, or even heart failure.

But according to several recent studies, nutritional status using body mass index is no longer the only test that best determines a person's risk of chronic disease. A journal published in Diabetes Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity, reports that there are 34 studies that state that the ratio of waist circumference to height is better in predicting diabetes mellitus, excess fat conditions, hypertension, and early symptoms of heart disease.

The predictions of waist circumference and height were more accurate than body mass index

Although calculating the body mass index is quite easy, some experts claim that the BMI value cannot be used as a full benchmark in determining a person's risk of chronic disease. This is because the BMI calculation does not see how much total fat is in your body.

Indeed, someone who is obese must have a lot of total fat. However, lean people whose body mass index values ​​are normal may have the same or even more total fat levels than obese people. Whereas the waist and abdomen are the main places for storing body fat, so waist circumference can be used as a benchmark in knowing how much body fat you have - even though this measurement is a simple measurement.

In addition, measuring the size of the waist is easier and simpler when compared to calculating the body mass index which has its own formula.

How do you know the risk of chronic disease by comparing waist circumference with height?

To find out how high your risk of chronic disease is, all you need to do is measure your waist circumference using a cloth tape. After knowing your waist circumference value, compare it to your current height. Is the value of your waist circumference greater than your height? Or is it smaller?

Experts state that someone who is considered healthy and has a small risk of developing diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure, is a person who the size of her waist was less than half her height.

Here's an example, if you have a height of 160 cm, then you are said to be healthy if you have a waist circumference of less than 80 cm (half of 160). Meanwhile, if your waist size exceeds this number, you are increasingly at risk for chronic disease.