Research continues on the best way to evaluate your risk of overweight-related health complications. A new report in the March issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that waist girth is a better indicator of risk than body mass index (BMI) the standard that has been used for years. Researchers analyzed both BMI and waist circumference (WC) in about 15,000 men and women from the NHANES III study. They concluded that a waist circumference measurement is a better marker for health risk than is BMI and consequently a greater emphasis should be placed on taking WC measurements than BMI determination.

They found that for every 1 inch increase in the waist circumference in men the risk for:

• High blood pressure increases by 10%
• High blood cholesterol level increases by 8%
• Low HDL cholesterol increases by 15%
• High blood fats (TG) increases by 18%
• And metabolic syndrome increases by 18%

Similar increases were found for women. What should your waist girth be? There isn't a consensus yet but NIH has suggested that a waist girth of 35+ inches for women and 40+ inches for men indicates high risk. Other studies recommend that a healthy waist girth (low risk) is less than 33 inches for women and less than 35 inches for men.

Sources: Janssen Ian, et al, Waist circumference and health risk, Amer J Clin Nutr 79:379-84, Mar 2004; ShanKuan Zhu, et al, Waist circumference and obesity-associated risk , Amer J of Clin Nu, 76:743-9