It’s well known that carrying extra fat around your waist can be harmful to your health, bringing greater risk of developing illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. But a recent study found that, regardless of weight, people who carry more fat around their abdomen had a higher risk of dying sooner—in fact, there was an 11 percent increase in death during follow up with every extra 4 inches (10 cm) of waist circumference.
The researchers included 72 studies in their review, which contained data on 2.5 million people. They then analyzed the combined data on body shape measures, looking at waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-thigh ratio, and waist and thigh circumference—in other words, all the areas where a person naturally stores fat.
