Waist-to-hip Ratio Can Show Your Health Condition

Some girls tend to feel frustrated if they havea pear-shaped body， with hips that are wider thanthe bust and shoulders. While pear-shaped peo-ple’s waists are typically smaller， they may havemore fat on their hips and legs. So， many pear-shaped girls try to hide their hips and legs underlarge dresses and pants.

However， a recent study suggested that pear-shaped people are the ones who won the geneticlottery .

A study published by the US National Libraryof Medicine found that the waist- to- hip ratioshows the strongest and most consistent associa-tion with mortality . Traditionally， the body massindex has been considered the best indicator ofhealth. However， this study challenges this belief.

It surveyed nearly 40，000 people and found that，regardless of BMI， WHR is positively correlatedwith all-cause mortality （all of the deaths that oc-cur in a population， no matter the cause）. The larg-er the WHR， the higher the all- cause mortalityrate will be. Instead of focusing on how much fata person has， scientists suggest people should fo-cus more on how fat is distributed in a person’sbody.

WHR， as its name suggests， compares yourwaist measurement to your hip measurement. A larger waistline means more central fat， whichcould indicate more visceral fat ， also known astoxic fat. Harvard Medical School states that morevisceral fat increases the risk of illnesses includ-ing diabetes ， heart diseases and asthma . That’swhy people with a pearshaped body tend to behealthier than others. According to the WorldHealth Organization， a healthy WHR is less than0.85 for women and less than 0.9 for men.

It is impossible to specifically target waist fatwhen people try to lose weight. But losing overallfat will make the waist smaller. Researchers fromJohns Hopkins University suggested we eat lesscarbohydrates and more food higher in fiber andprotein. Moreover， doing strength training helpsbuild more muscle， which makes you burn morecalories even when you’re resting.

有些女孩如果拥有梨形身材，即臀部比胸围和肩膀宽，往往会感到沮丧。虽然梨形身材的人的腰部通常较细，但他们的臀部和腿部可能有更多的脂肪。所以，很多梨形身材的女孩都试图把自己的臀部和腿部隐藏在肥大的衣服和裤子下。

然而，最近的一项研究表明，梨形身材的人是中了基因彩票的人。

美国国立医学图书馆发表的一项研究发现，腰臀比（WHR）与死亡率的关联性最强且最一致。传统上，体重指数（BMI）被认为是衡量健康的最佳指标。

然而，这项研究挑战了这一定论。它调查了近40，000人，发现无论BMI如何，腰臀比与全因死亡率（人群中发生的所有死亡，无论是何原因）呈正相关。腰臀比越大，全因死亡率越高。科学家建议人们不应该关注一个人有多少脂肪，而应该更多地关注脂肪在人体内的分布情况。

腰臀比，顾名思义，是将一个人的腰围测量值与臀围测量值相比较。腰围越大意味着中央脂肪越多，这可能代表内脏脂肪（又称有毒脂肪）更多。哈佛医学院指出，更多的内脏脂肪会增加患糖尿病、心脏病和哮喘等疾病的风险。这就是为什么梨形身材的人往往比其他人更健康。根据世界卫生组织的数据，女性腰臀比低于0.85，男性腰臀比低于0.9是健康的。

当人们试图减肥时，不可能只减腰部脂肪。但减去整体脂肪会使腰围变小。

约翰霍普金斯大学的研究人员建议我们少吃碳水化合物，多吃富含纤维和蛋白质的食物。此外，进行力量训练有助于增肌，让人们即使在休息时也能燃烧更多卡路里。

选自《21世纪英文报》