Obesity & Body-fat Distribution

Obesity is a growing issue globally. As per the WHO (World Health Organisation, 2010), Pacific Islands hold the highest obesity rates. Obesity is also very common in the US and Australia, unfortunately.

“Numerous surveys have shown that more and more people are suffering from obesity.”

This pattern seems to affect almost any country worldwide.

Excess body-fat can be stored in various sites in the human body:

1. Under the skin – subcutaneous fat;
2. Within the abdominal cavity connected to the intestine, pancreas and other organs – visceral fat;

The latter is believed to be more detrimental to health than subcutaneous fat. People carrying a lot of visceral fat have larger waist and suffer from what is called abdominal obesity.

Accurate estimates of visceral fat can be obtained using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), where a cross-sectional image is made of the abdomen, displaying the different fat depots therein. “The amount of visceral fat is relatively well correlated with waist circumference or waist to hip ratio (WHR = ratio of waist circumference to hip circumference), which can be much more easily assessed using a tape measure.” (Professor Dr. Sander Kersten – Nutrition, Metabolism & Genomics @ Wageningen University – Netherlands)

My calculations of WHR, as an example:

Waist: 72cm; Hip: 96cm; WHR = 72/97 = 0.75.

BMI (Body Mass Index), calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the square of the height in meters, does not take into account body composition and it also disregards body-fat distribution (that is linked to health risks). That is why two individuals, both having a BMI of 37kg/m2, have vastly different fat storages within their bodies, while one has waist measurement of 120.5cm, the other has a waist of 133cm. Of course that first individual tends to be healthier, even if they are both categorised as obese by the BMI alone.

Solutions for weight management?

Dieting – weight loss requires a negative energy balance. You might want to revisit my post on 18/6/2015 for more details on this matter.

Physical exercise – studies indicate that it aids in long-term weight maintenance. Exercise is a key element in obesity management because it offers numerous other health benefits independent of weight loss, potentially mitigating the harmful effects of obesity.

And last but not least, the question that arises now seems to be: Is obesity an individual or societal responsibility? Should obese individuals bear personal responsibility for their obesity problem? Accordingly, should any strategies to combat obesity be exclusively targeted to the individual? Or is the society responsible for creating an obesogenic environment where cheap high-calorie foods are over-abundant? You are invited to have your say!