DESCRIPTION: A study by Swedish researchers published in the British Medical Journal suggests that people with a waistline of 39.3 inches (100 centimeters) or more face a greater risk of developing insulin resistance. People who suffer from insulin resistance are more likely to develop diabetes and heart disease.
Diabetes is caused by an imbalance of insulin, a hormone that stimulates the body’s cells into absorbing glucose from the blood. The researchers who conducted the study compared the size of people’s waists with other biological markers that are known predictors of insulin sensitivity, which often leads to insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the cause of Type 2 diabetes, which makes up about 90 percent of all cases of diabetes and usually shows up in adults 40 years of age and older.