Waistline a guide to diabetes, heart risk

People with a waistline of 1-m or more are at serious risk of insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes and heart disease, according to a study.

People with a waistline of one metre (39.3 inches) or more are at serious risk of insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes and heart disease, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

The guideline is suggested by researchers in Sweden who compared girth with biological markers that predict insulin sensitivity among 2,700 adult volunteers of various ages and body shapes.

"A waist circumference of less than 100 cm (39 inches) excludes insulin resistance in both sexes," the study found.

The one-metre measurement is a handy replacement for more complex arithmetic, such as body-mass index and the waist-hip ratio, that are sometimes used as a predictor of insulin resistance.

Lead author is Hans Wahrenberg, associate professor at Stockholm's Karolinska University Hospital.

Diabetes is caused by a problem with insulin, a hormone that stimulates the body's cells into absorbing the energy source glucose from the blood.

Insulin deficiency can lead to heart and blood disorders that are responsible for an estimated 50 to 80 per cent of the deaths that occur among diabetics.

People with severe forms of the disease can also suffer from blindness, loss of limbs and kidney failure.

Insulin resistance is the cause of so-called Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for about 90 per cent of all cases of this disease and usually shows up in adults aged 40 or above.