New findings underscore that for men, the most important waist factor is risk for obesity-related cancers. In fact, it does a better job at predicting than Body Mass Index (BMI). This study was led by experts at Lund University in Malmö, Sweden. As the report explains, abdominal adiposity is a better predictor of future cancer than total body size.
The Importance of Waist Circumference
For waist circumference, it is historically much more difficult to obtain an accurate measure than BMI. For the purposes of predicting obesity-related cancer risk in men, we can’t downplay its importance. The study revealed that an increase in waist circumference by approximately 11 cm resulted in a 25% higher risk of developing obesity-related cancers in men. Each 3.7 kg/m² increase in BMI increases the risk by 19%. This goes to show that waist circumference is a much stronger predictor to your health risks.
"BMI is a measure of body size, but does not provide information on fat distribution, whereas waist circumference is a proxy more closely related to abdominal adiposity," according to Ming Sun, MSc, Josef Fritz, PhD, and Tanja Stocks, PhD, from Lund University.
These results underscore that waist circumference should be considered a major cancer risk factor. Even when controlling for BMI, the greater risk associated with abdominal fat still shows, meaning that it’s not simply a matter of body size.
Gender Differences in Fat Distribution
The study additionally examined the impact of sex, fat distribution, and their interaction on cancer risk. Waist circumference is a better marker than BMI for the risk of developing obesity-related cancers in males. This is not the case when it comes to women. For women, associations of waist circumference and BMI with cancer risk were weaker and more similar.
"A plausible explanation is that men are more likely to store fat viscerally, while women generally accumulate more subcutaneous and peripheral fat. Consequently, waist circumference is a more accurate measure of visceral fat in men than in women," noted Ming Sun and colleagues.
This difference in visceral versus subcutaneous fat storage likely explains the predictive power of waist circumference between genders.
Implications for Cancer Risk Assessment
These results provide compelling evidence to reconsider how obesity-related cancer risks should be evaluated. Including waist circumference in regular health checks for men would improve risk detection. This helps healthcare professionals to make preventive measures more effective and tangentially profitable.
Waist circumference should be used in addition to BMI for assessing cancer risks among men. Such an approach would better inform prevention strategies and in the long term, help stem the tide of the rising incidence of obesity-related cancers.
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