Your Waist Size Must Not Be More than Half of Your Height: Study

Live longer by having a waist size no larger than half of your body height, according to a study.

Many scientific researches claim having a slim waist line is an indication of good health, less fat and cholesterol. Scientists at the Cass Business School at City University in London also discovered another benefit of sporting a slender mid-riff. Their research suggests people whose waist to height ratio is 80 percent or above have very high possibility of succumbing to diseases at a young age. Therefore, having a waist line that is half of the body height can increase one's life span and avert the possibility of developing life-threatening diseases like diabetes, heart problem and cancer.

"Keep your waist circumference to less than half your height. People are living in false hope if they rely on their BMI figure. We have got to measure the right thing," said Margret Ashwell, co-author and researcher at the Cass Business School , reports the Telegraph.

The authors add keeping a tab on one's BMI alone doesn't serve as an appropriate method of assessing the amount of body fat and muscle. They believe for an average 30-year-old male standing 5ft 10 inches tall the ideal waist size must not exceed beyond 35 inches. In case, his waist measurements increase to 42 inches or 60 percent of his height, his life span declines by 1.7 years and 20.2 years when his tummy size jumps to 56 inches.

In addition, the study also noted women of the same age who are 5ft 4 inches tall are likely to die 1.4 years earlier when their waist size surges more than 60 percent of body height. If their waist length hikes up 51 inches, then they are at risk of dying 10.6 years earlier.

This method of recording the probability of getting diseases and reduction of life-span must be employed when people are young to enable early intervention and prevention strategies. Children as young as five years of age must be measured to save them from the burden of childhood obesity and related conditions.

"There is now overwhelming evidence that government policy should place greater emphasis on waist to height ratio as a screening tool," said Les Mayhew, a professor of statistics at Cass Business School, reports the Telegraph.