Why your pot bellies and muffin tops could well be the death of you
A beer belly or muffin top are twice as deadly as flab evenly distributed around the body – even if you are not overweight, a study has found.
A spare tyre has already been linked to erectile dysfunction, memory problems, diabetes, cancer and heart disease.
And unlike fat elsewhere, it pads internal organs, which is believed to promote inflammation by releasing hormones, raising the risk of killer diseases.
Now a test of 15,000 patients has shown that those with fat spilling over the waistband have higher mortality rates.
Lead author Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez said: “Our analyses show normal-weight adults with central obesity have the worst long-term survival compared with participants with normal fat distribution, regardless of BMI category.”
He warned that urgent action was needed to determine what causes some people to develop a spare tyre while keeping a healthy overall body weight.
Men with bulging bellies were twice as likely to die than others defined as overweight or obese by their Body Mass Index, which measures fat.
In women the effect was slightly less pronounced but still significant. Experts said the good news was that excess weight around the waist is easier to spot.
Taking simple steps to living a healthier life can help you lose your spare tyre and cut your risk of death, said Dr Jacquie Lavin, head of nutrition and research at Slimming World.
“Carrying excess weight around the waist is often a sign of fat building up around internal organs, which can increase the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure andType 2 diabetes,” she warned.
“The best way to reduce internal fat and the associated risks is to lose weight by making healthy lifestyle changes.
“These include increasing your fruit and vegetable intake, cooking meals from scratch, cutting down on takeaways, fatty foods and sugary snacks, reducing alcohol intake, and getting physically active.
“While carrying excess weight around the middle has health risks, the good news is it’s easier to spot at an early stage as our clothes feel tighter – which means we’re able to get support to make healthy lifestyle changes before it becomes an issue.”
She added that those trying to shed excess pounds are often motivated by losing inches off the waist – dropping a size or a belt notch.
Dr Lopez-Jimenez, who ran the US study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said people with flabby tums “may represent an important target population for lifestyle modification and other preventive strategies”.
Although they did not look at why there is such a link in the course of this study, the researchers pointed out that “spare tyre” obesity was associated with the accumulation of “visceral” fat around internal organs, which is known to be especially harmful to health.