Healthy waist circumference standards for men

The "Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Overweight and Obesity in Adults in China" delineates the healthy waist circumference qualifying line for Chinese adult men as <85cm, and the low-risk waist circumference threshold recommended by the World Health Organization for East Asian men is <90cm. These are currently the two most recognized reference standards in the industry.

Don’t rush to take out the tape measure and then emo. I have met too many people in the community health education in the past two years, and I am very confused about these two numbers: Is 86cm unhealthy? I have a strong core of fitness all year round, is this an exception?

First of all, the 85cm standard is a localized conclusion that the domestic disease control system has used for more than ten years. It is backed by follow-up data of hundreds of thousands of people. Chinese men with a waist circumference of more than 85cm have a risk of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and dyslipidemia that is 2.2 to 3.1 times that of those with a waist circumference that meets the standard. This cut-off point is specifically set for the body shape characteristics of Chinese people. To put it bluntly, it is more suitable for our physique. Many communities use this number as the initial screening line for chronic disease screening. As for the 90cm given by the WHO, it is actually a universal threshold based on a large sample study of the entire East Asian population, covering China, Japan, Korea and some Asian groups in Southeast Asia. Taking into account the differences in dietary structure and body shape in different regions, it is more relaxed and prefers the lowest line of "absolute safety". If this number is used as the standard, the risk of missed diagnosis will be higher, but it is not wrong.

Last year I met a 38-year-old fitness instructor with a waist circumference of 88cm. He came over with a physical examination report and asked. He said that every time he was screened in the community, he was reminded that his waist circumference was too high, but his body fat rate was only 15%, and his blood lipids and uric acid were all normal. Is there something wrong with the standards? In fact, this is another school of thought - practitioners in the field of fitness and sports rehabilitation basically do not use waist circumference alone to measure health, but pay more attention to waist-to-hip ratio. A male waist-to-hip ratio of less than 0.9 is considered normal. After all, muscle density is much greater than fat. The waist circumference supported by the core muscles obtained through actual training is completely different from the accumulated fat. Many powerlifters have a waist circumference of over 90 and a waist-to-hip ratio of only 0.85. Their physical indicators are much better than many people with a waist circumference of 80 but excessive body fat.

To be honest, the waist circumference measured by many people is not accurate at all, and it is completely futile. I’ve seen too many people measure their waistline either by sucking in their belly until it hurts, or by measuring it at the tip of their hip bones, and some people just circle it around their navel. It’s weird that the value is accurate. The correct measurement method is actually not that complicated: stand barefoot on the ground, with your feet about shoulder width apart, breathe naturally without holding your breath, and the moment you finish exhaling, place the tape measure between the top tip of the hip bone and the bottom edge of the ribs, close to the skin, and circle it horizontally to read the number that is accurate. Just follow this method, and if you measure it twice at home, the error will basically not exceed 1cm.

Last month, a 45-year-old uncle came to me and said that his waist circumference was 94 and he had severe fatty liver. After reading the popular science, he walked around the neighborhood for 40 minutes every day after dinner, drank half of the drinks, and rarely ate takeout. After half a year, his waist circumference dropped to 88. Although it has not yet reached the 85 line, the fatty liver has turned into mild after re-examination, and the blood lipids have returned to the normal range. You see, there is no need to get stuck on the line of a few centimeters. As long as your waist circumference is decreasing and your living habits are improving, the health benefits are real. You don't have to worry every day just because it exceeds 1cm.

Of course, don’t think that just because your waist circumference is up to standard, you can just make it casually. I met a 32-year-old salesperson a while ago who had a waist circumference of only 82. He looked quite thin. However, the physical examination showed that his fasting blood sugar was critical and his uric acid was also high. When I asked him, I found out that he stayed up late every day to catch up on drinks and ate high-fat takeaways. His body fat rate reached 25%. He was a typical "skinny fat person" with all the fat piled up in his internal organs and his waist circumference looked normal. In fact, the health risks are not low at all.

After all, these standards are for reference for ordinary people and are not black and white warning lines. The next time you buy pants, you find that the loose pants you wore before are now stuck in your stomach, or you can pinch a thick layer of fat on your stomach when you sit down. Then don't hesitate to put down the ice coke in your hand and walk two more steps. It is much more useful than picking at the 0.5cm error with a soft ruler every day.