Natural Health September 2017

HEALTH & Wellness
Abraham Mathew Saji
Pharmacist
Individuals may need to use additional factors to assess their
individual risk including family history, level of physical activity,
smoking and dietary habits.
Waist Circumference
Waist circumference is another widely used measurement to
determine abdominal fat content. An excess of abdominal
fat, when out of proportion to total body fat, is considered a
predictor of risk factors related to obesity. Men with a waist
measurement exceeding 40 inches are considered at risk.
Women are at risk with a waist measurement of 35 inches
or greater.
Waist to Hip Ratio
Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a measurement that measures the
ratio of waist circumference to that of the hip. It determines how
much fat is stored on your waist, hips, and buttocks. Not all
excess weight is the same when it comes to your health risks.
People who carry more weight around their midsection (an
apple-shaped body) are at higher risk for obesity related health
risks than those who carry more of their weight in their hips and
thighs (a pear-shaped body). According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), a healthy WHR is 0.9 or less in men
and 0.85 or less for women.
Cause of Obesity
There could be many causes for the development of obesity. But
the main fundamental cause is an energy imbalance between
calories consumed and spent. Globally, there has been an
increased intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat,
and an increase in physical inactivity due to the increasingly
sedentary nature of many forms of work, changing modes
of transportation, and increasing urbanization. Changes in
dietary and physical activity patterns are often the result of
environmental and societal changes.
Waist-to-hip ratio chart
Health risk Women
Low
0.80 or lower
Moderate 0.81–0.85
High
0.86 or higher
Men
0.95 or lower
0.96–1.0
1.0 or higher
Statistics
Overweight and obesity are the fifth leading risk for global
deaths. At least 2.8 million adults die each year as a result
of being overweight or obese. In addition, 44% of the
diabetes burden, 23% of the ischaemic heart disease burden
and between 7% and 41% of certain cancer burdens are
attributable to overweight and obesity. Some WHO global
estimates from 2008 indicate that:
• More than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight.
• Of these overweight adults, over 200 million men and
nearly 300 million women were obese.
• Overall, more than 10% of the world’s adult population
was obese.
Once considered a high-income country problem, overweight
and obesity are now on the rise in low- and middle-income
countries, particularly in urban settings. Overweight and obesity
are linked to more deaths worldwide than underweight. For
example, 65% of the world’s population lives in countries where
overweight and obesity kill more people than underweight (this
includes all high-income and most middle-income countries).
Natural Health * September 2017 VOL 83
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