The Diet Diary

Infographic: FDA/Renée Gordon

Canadian doctors are being urged to use waist diameter measurements instead of BMI to diagnose obesity. This is because BMI, based on weight and height is a surrogate measurement of obesity, but a waist measurement if a direct measurement of the level of unhealthy fat a person carries.

It turns out that the unhealthiest fat is the kind people store on their organs. This isn’t the jiggly flabby right under the skin fat you often worry about; it’s the fat sitting on organs concealed under muscles that may put you at risk of heart disease, hypertension or diabetes.

So, if you waist is big, but you think, oh, but most of it is just solid muscle? That’s the sign that dangerous fat is packed on internal organs like your liver and heart. (Oh, but you know if you see lots of the jiggly under the skin fat, you’ve probably got lots on your organs too. So, if your waist is large, you may want to start taking steps to reduce it.)

You can read more about the Canadian guidelines at canada.com Body and Health by Sharon Kirkey You’ll find similar advice from The US FDA. If you want to use a calculator to figure out if your belly fat puts you at risk, visit my “Apple or Pear” belly fat calculator.