AsiaLIFE

The key to health and fitness lies not just in keeping your weight down, but also in maintaining your beltline. A bulging belly often comes along with high blood sugar, high triglyceride and low HDL cholesterol levels. This cluster of problems is increasing, largely due to lack of exercise and  a balanced diet.

Don't ignore an oversized stomach, because it can be a crystal ball indicating you may one day be hit by a heart attack. More and more studies show that abdominal obesity, as measured by waist to height ratio, is a better predictor of chronic heart disease than general obesity, assessed by your body mass index or waist to hip ratio. A simpler way of looking at it is that your waist circumference shouldn't be more than half of your height. So while a lot of us simply get on a scale to check our weight, it's just as important to consider our waist size.

In general, a woman's waist circumference should not exceed 80cm and men's 90cm. Underneath the flabby spare tire, the spread of abdominal fat differs between the two sexes. In women, the fat deposits in the subcutaneous layer of the skin, whereas in men it accumulates dangerously around visceral organs such as the small bowel and liver. Shedding kilos can help, and losing 10 percent of your weight can reduce 30 percent of visceral organ fat.

What has this got to do with fitness? Everything! Regular exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet will pay off with a healthier heart.