More than umkhaba: SA waist sizes point to growing metabolic health concerns
Health experts say your waist measurement may reveal more about your metabolic health than the bathroom scale. Here's how to measure yours in a minute and when to see a doctor.
The article highlights the growing concern over metabolic health in South Africa, emphasizing that waist size may be a more accurate indicator of health risks than body weight alone. Excess abdominal fat, or visceral fat, is strongly associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, making waist circumference a crucial "vital sign" in clinical practice.
South Africa faces a significant burden of metabolic diseases, with high obesity rates and a substantial number of undiagnosed or at-risk individuals. To address this, the Pharma Dynamics initiative, "Waist Wise," encourages South Africans to regularly measure their waist circumference as a simple, inexpensive screening tool to identify potential metabolic risks early.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Citizen's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
