Abdominal obesity refers to the presence of excess fat in the abdominal area. The abdomen is the part of your body between your chest and pelvis. The fat in this area is also called visceral fat and it surrounds important organs. Excess fat in your midsection may put you at greater risk for certain medical conditions than excess fat in your thigh or butt regions.
RISKS OF ABDOMINAL FAT
The higher the number, the greater the danger your tummy poses to your health.
● For women, a waist measurement of 35 inches or more is cause for concern.
● For men, a waist measurement of 40 inches or more could spell trouble.
If you have to move to a bigger pants size, even if your weight is considered normal for your height,
or even if you haven’t noticed much weight gain, that’s an important sign it’s time to start eating better and exercising more.
Abdominal obesity is very common in elderly people because body fat is often redistributed to the abdominal region during the ageing process. On average, premenopausal women have half the abdominal fat of men; this is largely due to body shape.
While women generally have a higher total and percentage body fat, it is more often located on their hips and thighs due to their pear-shaped bodies. Men naturally have an apple shape, and carry excess weight in their abdominal region which can lead to many health risksThe visceral fat which is stored in the excess amount can leads to toxic accumulation in the body.
Among them are chemicals called cytokines that boost your chances of heart disease and make your body less sensitive to insulin, which can bring on diabetes. Cytokines also cause inflammation, which can lead to certain cancers. In recent years, scientists have uncovered links between belly fat and cancers of the colon, oesophagus, and pancreas.
Excess body fat has serious consequences for health. It is associated with high levels of LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol and triglycerides and low levels of HDL (‘good’) cholesterol. Excess body fat contributes to major causes of death and disability, including osteoarthritis, fatty liver, and depression.
Overall, we do know that abdominal obesity contributes to major medical conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, cholesterol, disability, depression, fatty liver and obesity. The major reason is physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyle which has been promptly identified. Therefore, steps to combat this include diet, exercise and lifestyle modifications.