More than bikini photos, your muffin top screws up. Even at normal weight, belly fat is linked to heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer, according to new studies.
The National Institutes of Health's Women's Health Initiative study, published in JAMA Network Open, found that postmenopausal women of normal weight with excess belly fat have a 31% higher risk of death, similar to obese people.
Most people know what excess belly fat looks like: a spare tire on males or an apple-shaped figure on women. Endocrinologist Rekha Kumar of Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian says sneaky fat is harder to spot than you believe.
“Someone may not appear overweight or have a beer belly,” she told The Post. “But some people are genetically predisposed to belly fat.
Instead of weight, Kumar recommends tracking waist-to-hip ratio, which is the ratio of waist to hip circumference.
Kumar considers it the “fourth vital sign, after temperature, pulse and blood pressure.” Kumar says your waist should be much smaller than your hips.
According to a Medical Journal of Australia study, those values are the best predictor of cardiovascular death,
surpassing body-mass index and waist circumference. Men and women with waist-to-hip ratios greater than 0.90 or 0.80 had increased mortality rates.