Beer belly fat heightens risk of heart disease and diabetes

CARRYING fat around the stomach could quadruple the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, experts warned yesterday.

Scientists believe waist measurement rather than overall weight is a more accurate way of predicting health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity. Experts yesterday warned that fat around the stomach - a beer gut or apple shape - could be more deadly than weight carried on the thighs - the so-called pear shape.

Anthony Barnett, medicine professor at the University of Birmingham, said people should throw out the scales and use a tape measure to understand the risks. Researchers say fat cells around the stomach are different to other fat cells and the unwanted chemicals they pump out can damage the insulin system, raising the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Prof Barnett, speaking at the National Obesity Forum conference in London, said: “Waist measurements can predict the risks of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease more accurately than weight. Men with waists of more than 40 inches and women with waists of more than 35 inches are at an incredibly high risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

“Thicker waistlines may double to quadruple these risks, compared to those with slimmer waistlines.

“Even a lower waist of 37 inches in men and 32 inches in women may significantly raise the risk of either of these diseases, if not both.”

Prof Barnett has been at the forefront of research into the understanding that fat cells around the waist are not passive lumps of lard but are highly active, pumping out proteins and hormones.

In small doses these are necessary, but in excess they can cause damage to insulin use, raising blood pressure and increasing cholesterol.

Type 2 diabetes - often called adult-onset diabetes - has increased significantly in recent years as obesity levels have risen.

The number of people in Britain with diabetes has jumped to 1.8m.

Prof Barnett said: “If obesity increases at the present rate, within the next 10 years 10% of the population will suffer from diabetes and its related complications.”

Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance, which can be triggered by excess weight around the stomach. Insulin made in the pancreas stops working properly in overweight people. The fatter the person, the more resistant to insulin they are.

“The more resistant you are to insulin, the more insulin the body has to produce to have the same effect,” Prof Barnett said.