Waist circumference is believed to be a much more accurate measure of future health risk than Body Mass Index (BMI) alone. BMI is simply a ratio of weight in relation to height. It is not a direct measurement of body fat and provides no information about distribution of body fat. In contrast, the measurement of waist circumference provides information regarding body fat topography - where body fat is stored.
Carrying too much fat around the middle is associated with an increased risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, certain cancers and heart disease.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that people with large waists have a greater risk of death than others with normal waist measurements — nearly double — even when those with a large waist circumference have a normal BMI. The study followed 100,000 subjects for 10 years and found that even with a normal BMI, four extra inches around the waist increased the risk of dying from between 15 percent to 25 percent.
Measuring waist circumference helps screen employees for possible health risks that come with overweight and obesity. If most of fat is around the waist rather than at the hips, your employees are at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. An excess of abdominal fat, when out of proportion to total body fat, is also considered a predictor of risk factors related to obesity. This risk goes up with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men.
Waist circumference is also one of five diagnostic criteria used to assess metabolic syndrome risk. The other four are high blood sugar level, reduced HDL-cholesterol, increased blood pressure, and increased triglycerides. In order to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome, one has to have at least three of these five criteria.
Since the 1960s, American's middles have been steadily growing, with the average waistline increasing around one inch every 10 years. So whatever your employees choose to call it - pot belly, spare tire or beer belly - the waist circumference measurement is a very important number to know.