Waistline better indicator of diabetes than BMI

A man's waist size seems to be a stronger indicator of diabetes risk than the body mass index (BMI), new research suggests.

Johns Hopkins scientists reviewed data from 27,270 men tracked over 13 years and put them into five groups according to their waist size. Of them, 884 had diabetes. Compared with those in the group with the smallest waists, 29 to 34 inches, men with larger waist sizes were at least twice as likely to have diabetes. Those with the largest waist size – 40 inches and above – were up to 12 times more likely to have type 2 diabetes, the kind associated with obesity. When the men were divided into groups based on their BMI – a formula based on weight and height – the level of risk wasn't as pronounced. The study's lead author, Youfa Wang, an assistant professor with the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said waist size could indicate a strong risk for diabetes whether or not a man's BMI indicates he's overweight. Alan Cherrington, president of the American Diabetes Association, said the study backed earlier research that found waistline fat “is worse for you than other kinds of fat.” ap

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