Waistlines an important measure of cardiovascular risk

GPs are being urged to watch their patients’ waistlines after a worldwide study found Irish people are at a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

The study found that over 44% of Irish women and 32% of Irish men have large waistlines that put them at increased risk. According to international guidelines, a high waist circumference is above 88cm (35 inches) for women and above 102cm (40 inches) for men.

And a measurement of body mass found that 70% of Irish men and over 50% of Irish women are overweight. In fact, one-in-four Irish men and a fifth of Irish women can be classified as being clinically obese.

The International Day for the Evaluation of Abdominal Obesity (IDEA) study assessed 177,345 people in 63 countries, including over 2,000 Irish patients. It found a strong association between waist circumference and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease.

Obesity is typically measured by body mass index (BMI), a simple ratio of weight and height. But abdominal fat, commonly referred to as fat around the middle, is a much better determinant of cardiovascular disease, the study found.

The Irish results were consistent with the global data which showed that for each increase in waist circumference of 14cm for men and 14.9cm for women, the likelihood of a person having cardiovascular diseases increases from 21% to 40%.

Dr Tracy Cunningham, medical director of sanofi-aventis Ireland, sponsors of the study, said the findings underlined the importance of measuring waist circumference alongside measurements such as BMI, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels.

She also pointed out that 97% of patients agreed to have their waist circumference measured by their GP, shows that patients did not feel that having their waist measured was intrusive.

Dr Jean-Pierre Després of the Quebec Heart Institute, guest speaker at a conference on cardiometabolic risk in Dublin yesterday, said Irish doctors needed to measure patients’ waistlines.

“Waist circumference is a vital sign of a patients’ health. It must be included in the medical chart of ever single patient in Ireland.”