British girls second only to Americans for ‘dangerous fat’
BRITISH girls rank among the worst in the world for carrying dangerous stomach fat.
More than half of girls in the UK are ‘overfat’, putting them at risk of diabetes and cancer in later life.
These children may appear to be of normal weight, but a waist circumference of more than half their height is enough to put them in the danger category.
In the rankings of the world’s 30 most developed countries, UK schoolgirls are rated second only to the US on this measurement, according to a study.
Almost 87 per cent of men and more than three-quarters of women are also overfat, storing their weight around their middle instead of spread around their body. The findings – from a study led by Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand – raise new concerns about Britain’s child obesity crisis.
The researchers say the problem has reached ‘pandemic’ proportions, adding: ‘ The prevalence of overfat populations in 30 of the world’s most developed countries is substantially higher than recent global estimations, with the largest growth due to a relatively recent increased number of people with excess abdominal fat.’
Naveed Sattar, a professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow University, said: ‘ Measuring the weight around someone’s middle can be an indicator in adults of their risk of diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver disease and, when measured early in pregnancy, of the risk of pregnancy complications.
‘We know we have a problem in this country, and the biggest fac- tor is the food environment, but the evidence also shows physical activity in girls, which can help to prevent weight gain, tends to fall faster than it does in boys.’
Obesity is usually measured using body mass index (BMI), cal- culated using weight and height, but there are concerns it may not be the best way to measure whether someone is a healthy weight because it does not distinguish between lean body mass and fat. The study says up to half of people with excess body fat can slip through the net using the measurement.
The authors instead examined waist circumference – the measurement around someone’s body at their belly button.
The results show 51.4 per cent of girls are overfat by this measure,
‘Physical activity falls off’
below the US on 51.9 per cent, but almost double the girls in the best-performing country – Brunei. The figure for boys is 48.7 per cent. The results are also worrying among adults, with 77.2 per cent of British women classed as overfat, behind only the US. Women usually gain weight on their thighs and hips, and teenage girls on their chests, which makes stomach fat a warning sign. There are 86.6 per cent of UK men in the overfat category, ranking them seventh in the 30 countries measured.
People who carry weight around their middle suffer damage to insulin resistance, the body’s natural propensity to convert and store carbohydrate foods as fat. This can lead to diabetes, as well as gout, cancer, stroke and early death. The researchers, whose study was published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health, believe up to 76 per cent of the world’s population may be overfat.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘How many more times will the researchers have to provide these figures before health ministers sit up and take notice?
‘Waistlines have been consistently expanding for a generation yet government policies to help children and adults alike rein them in are near to non-existent.’