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Majority of women have large waist measurements
June 25, 2012
A study by healthcare charity Nuffield Health suggests that 57 percent of women have a waist size that puts them at risk of health problems.
The majority of British women appear to have a larger-than-recommended waist size, which could increase their chances of ill-health.
Nuffield Health, the UK's largest healthcare charity, analysed data from more than 54,000 Health MOTs.
Its researchers found that 57 percent of female participants had a waist size in the 'high health risk' category.
On average, women had a waist measurement that was 4.9cm larger than the maximum of 80cm that is recommended by experts.
This means they could face a heightened risk of certain cancers, heart disease, type-2 diabetes and even infertility, the charity warned.
Dr Davina Deniszczyc, professional head of physicians and diagnostics at Nuffield Health, described the findings as "worrying".
She said: "Whilst waist size may seem like a cosmetic issue, this isn't about women fitting into their skinny jeans, rather it's an important indicator of overall health and wellbeing, particularly when taken into account with other health measurements.
"Experts are increasingly finding central (or abdominal) obesity, measured through waist size, to be a better indicator of obesity than BMI."
The latest NHS figures show that 46 percent of women had a raised waist circumference in 2010, although researchers at the NHS Information Centre used 88cm as the threshold rather than 80cm.
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