Why a belly scan might be better than a tape measure
Ultrasound measurements of intraabdominal fat estimate the metabolic syndrome better than do measurements of waist circumference
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Waist circumference had almost no link to cholesterol or HDL (r=0.01 and r=-0.06), despite being widely used as a metabolic risk indicator.
Public health guidelines routinely use waist circumference as a proxy for visceral fat — but this study suggests it’s nearly useless for predicting key cholesterol and fat markers.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re concerned about metabolic health, ask your doctor if an abdominal ultrasound to measure visceral fat is available — especially if your BMI is normal but you have a large waist.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Waist circumference had almost no link to cholesterol or HDL (r=0.01 and r=-0.06), despite being widely used as a metabolic risk indicator.
Public health guidelines routinely use waist circumference as a proxy for visceral fat — but this study suggests it’s nearly useless for predicting key cholesterol and fat markers.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re concerned about metabolic health, ask your doctor if an abdominal ultrasound to measure visceral fat is available — especially if your BMI is normal but you have a large waist.
Publication
Journal
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Year
2003
Authors
Ronald P Stolk, Rudy Meijer, Willem PTM Mali, Diederick E Grobbee, Yolanda van der Graaf
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Claims (4)
Waist circumference demonstrates superior predictive validity for metabolic disease and all-cause mortality compared to body mass index in adult human populations.
Just measuring your waist size doesn’t tell you as much about your blood sugar and cholesterol levels as an ultrasound scan of your belly fat does — even when you already know someone’s weight and age.
Measuring belly fat with an ultrasound shows a stronger link to bad blood sugar, cholesterol, and fat levels than just measuring waist size, even when you account for a person’s age, sex, and overall weight.
As people get older, their belly fat tends to increase — and this increase is a bit more clearly linked to age when measured with ultrasound than when just measuring the waist.