Ladies - throw away your scales and get out a tape measure. Scientists suggest that the important variable in assessing your health is the size of your waistline, not your weight. Maire Bonheim investigates.

Many women covet a slinky noodle-like silhouette a la Cameron Diaz. A Drew Barrymore-eque hourglass wouldn’t go amiss either, or a compact Jennifer Garner kung-fu fighting machine. The prospect of resembling a hip-heavy pear, though, is one we contemplate with horror. Studies suggest, however, that the forbidden fruit that should really terrify us is the common apple.

“People whose fat collects around the waist – the classic apple shape – are at a higher risk of heart disease than their pear-shaped counterparts,” says Roger S Blumenthal, MD, director of the John Hopkins Ciccarone Center for the Prevention of Heart Disease.

But that’s not all. Too much fat in the abdominal cavity can lead to an increase in cholesterol and insulin resistance, which causes diabetes. There’s also the risk of strokes, high blood pressure and even infertility: insulin resistance is linked to polycystic ovary syndrome. In fact, some healthcare professionals go so far as to say that apples with waist measurements above 110cms are unlikely to conceive.

Body shape even seems to be a better indicator of cardiovascular risk than obesity. Obesity causes diabetes and hypertension, prime candidates for cardiovascular disease, the most frequent cause of death for obese people. But based on obesity alone, a woman is no more likely to die at a body mass index of 50 than of 35. The worst risk factor, actually, is the apple shape.

An apple a day

According to Nutritionist Dr Margaret Ashwell, the hated pear shape is actually much healthier than the apple, caused by excess body fat being stored around vital organs like the heart and liver.

Ashwell’s theory is that because this internal fat is so close to the liver, fatty acids stimulate the liver to produce cholesterol, possibly also increasing the risk factors for other illnesses that are linked to large waist size, such as gall bladder disease and breast cancer.

Fat stored around the bottom, hips and thighs therefore gives the body a pear shape, but is away from the vital organs and therefore less harmful.

The bottom line, however, is that unlucky genetics and bad childhood habits aside, the majority of heart disease is preventable. Exercising, managing blood pressure and avoiding smoking all help, but ultimately apples have to make the effort to shed their mid-waist cushioning. It seems it’s never been this fashionable to be a pear.

To find out what body shape you are, try this:

• Measure the narrowest point of your waist, around your navel
• Measure the widest point of your hips, over your bottom
• Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement to find a waist-hip ratio

A healthy ratio is less than 0.95 for men or 0.8 for women. If your ratio is higher, then unfortunately you’re an apple! Read on…

Losing the spare tire

So you’re convinced you need to lose weight but don’t think you have the willpower? Don’t panic, because research also shows that you don’t need to eat less food or even fewer calories to lose kilos from around your middle; you just need to eat less trans fat.

Studies suggest that developing flab around your middle may be accelerated by eating trans fat. “Diets rich in trans fat can cause a redistribution of fat tissue into the abdomen and lead to a higher body weight even when the total dietary calories are controlled,” says Dr Lawrence L. Rudel, a professor of pathology and biochemistry at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Over a period of 6 years, two different groups of monkeys were fed the exact same amount of calories, but one group’s diet included just 8% trans fat, while the second group stuck to the healthier monounsaturated variety. Rudel says that the trans fat monkeys developed over 7% more body fat, all on the abdomen.

Trans fat, found in products like margarines, crackers and biscuits, is formed when food manufacturers turn liquid oils into solid fats by adding hydrogen. We already know that the consumption of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol increases your risk of coronary artery disease, but it now seems that simply switching to monounsaturated fats like olive oil could have the added benefit of transforming your body shape, too. Anyone for a pear?