When people talk about belly fat, muffin tops or the beer gut what they are really talking about is central obesity. This stomach fat is an accumulation of fat deposited between internal organs and the abdomen and is known as visceral fat.

There is a strong correlation between central obesity and cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Are You At Risk?
Although central obesity can be pretty obvious to determine just by looking at the stomach, its seriousness is determined by taking hip and waist measurements.

A measurement of more than 102cm (40 inches) in men and more than 88cm (35 inches) in women around the waist is used as a measure of central obesity. This is then used with a measurement of the hip circumference to calculate the waist to hip ratio (WHR). This ratio is the circumference of the waist to that of the hips. In other words the waist measurement divided by the hip measurement (at its widest part). A WHR of more than 0.9 for men and more than 0.85 for women should signal obesity concerns.

Health Risks
Central obesity is linked with higher risks of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and hypertension. It is also a symptom of Cushing’s Syndrome and is also common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

The greatest risk associated with central obesity is the increased chance of developing type 2 diabetes. Central obesity leads to decreased insulin resistance as abdominal fat secrets adipokines which can impair glucose tolerance.

Prevention/Treatment
The way to prevent central obesity is through aerobic exercise and muscle building. Besides surgery and prescribed drugs the way to treat central obesity is simply by losing weight through proper diet, aerobic exercise and muscle building. As I have spoken about before you can’t specifically lose fat from one targeted area. Hence doing 1000 sit-ups is not going to help you lose belly fat.

The predominant cause of central obesity is overeating and a lazy lifestyle. So the basic answer is get active, get out there and don’t overeat!

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