Need a reason to hit the gym? Here’s a good one: it can save your life.
A decade-long study has found that adults with bulging bellies are twice as likely to die as their svelte peers.
The study, published Monday in the Archives of Internal Medicine, is the first to look at the correlation between waist size and death in normal, overweight, and obese adults, The Associated Press reports.
Across the board, waist size was found to be connected to increased risk, and danger rose as belt buckles loosened.
That includes people whose weight was “normal” according to the standard measure of Body Mass Index (BMI).
“Even if you haven’t had a noticeable weight gain, if you notice your waist size increasing that’s an important sign,” Eric Jacobs of the American Cancer Society told the AP.
Jacobs, the lead author of the study, says a pair of pants becoming snug could mean, “It’s time to eat better and start exercising more.”
As adults get older, some see muscle tone melt into belly fat. Though their weight does not increase, Jacobs said, their changing figures could put them at greater risk.
Researchers conducting the study followed more than 100,000 adults from 1997 to 2006, during which 15,000 subjects in the study died.
Flabby abs are a widespread problem for Americans over 50. Over half of older men and over 70 percent of older women have bigger waistlines than are doctor-recommended, the AP reports.
And the problem keeps growing: Average waistlines have swelled roughly an inch every ten years since the 1960s.
Dr. Samuel Klein, an obesity expert at Washington University in St. Louis, is skeptical that belly fat alone can lead to death. Klein, who wasn’t involved in the study, told the AP that extra belly fat could actually be a symptom of a third factor that creates both bulging bellies and poor health.
For optimal health, doctors say, men should have a waist circumference of no more than 40 inches, while women should stay below 35 inches to minimize risk.
And to win the battle of the bulge, experts recommend a two-pronged approach: cutting down on calories and stepping up your exercise regimen.
Unfortunately, an old standard won’t do much good.