Girls in the UK and US are FATTEST in the world – here’s how to tell if you’re ‘overfat’
BRITISH and American girls are among the fattest in the world.
More than half of girls in both countries carry a dangerous amount of stomach fat that increases their risk of killer diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The girls are considered “overfat”, meaning they carry too much body fat and that their waist measurement is more than half their height, according to a new study that ranks countries by weight.
And just under half of boys are also considered to be carrying too much fat.
Scientists said "overfat" was a better indicator of potential problems than obesity – increasing kid’s risk of heart disease, 11 types of cancer and diabetes as they get older.
More than eight in ten British adults are also considered "overfat".
Diet experts said having a waist measurement that's less than half your height is key to a long life.
They warned fat around the tummy is linked with increased risk of chronic diseases, mortality and reduced quality of life.
Adult men were most likely to be "overfat", with 86.6 per cent measuring too fat.
But women were not far behind with 77.2 per cent considered "overfat".
Being "overfat" is worrying trend in developed countries like the UK, where a third of children and two thirds of adults are overweight or obese.
And even physically active people - including professional athletes in various sports and active military personnel - may fall into the category, said the Australian and New Zealand researchers.
Professor Paul Laursen, of Auckland University of Technology, said: “The prevalence of 'overfat' populations in 30 of the world's most developed countries is substantially higher than recent global estimations, with the largest growth due to a relatively recent increased number of people with excess abdominal fat.
“Abdominal 'overfat' is the most unhealthy form of this condition, so it is concerning that average waist circumference measures, generally indicative of abdominal 'overfat', have increased.
“Despite a levelling off appearance of being overweight and/or obese in some developed countries, the 'overfat' pandemic continues to grow.”
HOW TO TELL IF YOU ARE OVERFAT
Calculating your body mass index or simply stepping on a scale is not enough to determine if you are overfat.
Being overfat means your waist measures more than half of your height.
Take a tape measure and measure the circumferance of your waist at the level of your belly button, then compare it to your height.
If you are a 5ft 10in tall your waist should be no more than 35 inches.
If you are a 5ft 4in tall your waist should be no more than 32 inches.
His study published in Frontiers in Public Health relied on data from the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report for 2014.
It said stepping on a scale or calculating Body Mass Index (BMI) are ineffective at determining whether someone is "overfat".
Instead the researchers recommend taking a measure of the waistline - at the level of the belly button - and comparing it to height.
The first figure should be less than half the second.
It means a 30-year-old man who is an average height of 5ft 10ins should have a waist no more than 35 inches.
Previous research has suggested if his waist grows to 42 inches – 60 per cent of his height - he will lose 1.7 years of his life.
Similarly, a woman of 30 who is 5ft 4ins will die 1.4 years early is she allows her waist to expand from 32 to 38.4 inches.
Prof Laursen, who leads the performance physiology team at High Performance Sport New Zealand, said the “global 'overfat' pandemic” is even worse than predictions by his same researchers earlier this year of 76 per cent.
In developed countries up to 90 per cent of men and 50 per cent of children may be "overfat".
In the top "overfat" countries 80 per cent of women fall into this category.
The problem is particularly bad in the US and New Zealand - but also in Iceland and even Greece where people are generally thought to be healthy.
Prof Laursen said the relationship between being "overfat" and poor health is a spectrum that gets worse the fatter a person becomes.
The cycle of excess body fat, insulin resistance and chronic inflammation lie at one end fuelling blood fats like cholesterol, glucose and high blood pressure which then produces a variety of illnesses at the other end.
Being "overfat" is also linked to gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, gout, lung disease, sleep apnoea and other illnesses.
HOW BEING FAT AS A TEENAGER INCREASES YOUR RISK OF COLORECTAL CANCER
A new study has found a link between being overweight as a teenager and colon cancer.
Scientists in Israel looked at more than a million men and women who had health checks, including body mass index measurements, between the ages of 16 and 19.
The checks were done between 1967 and 2002.
Over a median of 23 years there were 2967 cases of colorectal cancer in the patients.
Obesity and being overweight was associated with a 53 per cent and 54 per cent higher risk of colon cancer for men and women, respectively.
Obesity was associated with a 71 per cent increased risk of rectal cancer in men and more than a twofold increased risk in women.
The study, the largest ever to look at obesity and colorectal cancer, was published in Cancer in the journal, American Cancer Society.
Prof Laursen said: “On average, the prevalence of 'overfat' adults and children in developed countries is extremely high, and substantially greater than that of overweight and obese individuals.
“Despite a levelling off appearance of the overweight and/or obese condition in some developed countries, the 'overfat' pandemic continues to grow.
“In tandem with an increased average waist circumference, a recent rise in the incidence of abdominal adiposity, the unhealthiest form of excess body fat, has been observed in both adults and children.
MOST READ IN HEALTH
“The estimate of 'overfat' in the world's 30 top developed nations is substantially higher than the prevalence of overweight and obese adults and children worldwide, and stresses the seriousness of the overfat pandemic.
“Regardless of BMI values, 'overfat' individuals have excess body fat, a high degree of cardiometabolic dysregulation that can promote disease risk factors and chronic disease, increased morbidity and mortality, reduced quality of life, and pose a rising economic burden.
“As an unfulfilled public health action, it is crucial to clinically identify individuals who are 'overfat' in order to implement successful treatment and prevention strategies.”
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