Do you know what your body shape is?
There are many types of body shapes. The most popular ones that you always hear are apple-shaped and pear-shaped. Apple-shaped individuals have a heavy top compared to their bottom part of the body. In other words, this shape is characterized by more fat deposits or concentration around your shoulders, chest, and smaller hips. Pear-shaped individuals (like me) are the total opposite: their hips and thighs are wider than the shoulders and chest.
You might be wondering, “how this relevant?”
Over the years, medical findings showed that apple-shaped bodies tend to store fats in the bell, which in turn increases the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Six studies were conducted from the year 2007 to 2015 with a pile of analyzed genomes from 4,000 participants. In total, 48 gene variants were linked to the waist-hip ratio and researchers were able to use these variants to calculate a genetic risk score.
Individuals with a high waist-to-hip ratio or the so-called apple-shaped bodies have higher levels of cholesterol, glucose, insulin, and systolic blood pressure (systolic blood pressure is the first reading of your blood pressure, e.g.: 120/76mmHg – 120 is your systolic blood pressure). With all these factors, the risk for diabetes and heart disease is naturally higher.
Taking into account these results, apple-shaped individuals have a greater risk for metabolic syndrome (a group of risk factors that increases the risk for heart-related issues, diabetes, stroke). With the higher amount of insulin available to these individuals, it also increases the risk of insulin intolerance (type 2 diabetes). Apple-shaped people tend to have belly fat that wraps around essential organs, causing some essential body functions to be altered.
Ultimately, it is a risk factor that increases the risk of another risk factor that increases the risk of disease. Confusing? Yes, it is! What can you do if you have an apple-shaped body? Decrease other risk factors that contribute to heart disease and diabetes. Try to eat healthier, exercise, and stay in the normal weight range. You can do this by calculating your body mass index (BMI = weight (kg)/ height2 (m)). You can also keep an eye on your waist-hip ratio (WHR = waist/hip measurement). Women should stay under the score of 0.8 while men should stay under the score of 0.9.
Although the BMI is currently being used to define obesity, it has been found that if the WHR is used in place of BMI, the number of obese individuals would increase three-fold.
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Smith J. Apple-shaped body predisposes heart disease, type 2 diabetes. Feb 2017. Accessed 2/28/2017.
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