Over the past year we have heard a lot about the increased risk for heart disease and diabetes with belly fat. But now we may also have to start measuring our thighs??
A recent study published on the British Medical Journal website (September 2009) states that adults with a thigh circumference less than 60 cm are at a higher risk for heart disease and premature death. This is the first study I came across reporting health problems related to thigh girth. This study followed 1463 men and 1380 women from Denmark for 10 years. The researchers found that adults with smaller thigh size were more likely to experience an early death and heart disease, even after taking body fat and other high risk factors (such as smoking and high cholesterol) into account. The authors suggest that the increased risk in men and women with narrow thighs may be related to too little muscle mass in this region which could contribute to problems with insulin sensitivity and lead to the development of diabetes and heart disease. The increased risk was observed in both adults with and without belly fat.
We will have to await future studies to see if these results are validated in other groups. For more heart healthy info visit www.heart-strong.com