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Waist circumference can significantly predict asthma, even for people who aren't technically overweight, according to a study in Thorax. Of the more than 88,000 female schoolteachers in California surveyed, 7.5% reported having asthma. Of those, women with waist circumferences of 35.2 inches or larger but body mass indexes below 25 -- the official cutoff for 'overweight' -- were over one-third more likely than other 'normal' weight women to have asthma. (Women with large waists who were also obese were even more likely to have asthma.) The findings suggest that abdominal fat may contribute to asthma independently of overall body fat, the researchers said. While the specific pathways aren't crystal clear, excess fat tissue in the abdomen is thought to increase the risk for asthma by restricting and inflaming airways.
Caveat: Because it used a one-time survey, originally intended to track breast cancer, the study's researchers were unable to follow patients as their diagnoses changed over time, and thus couldn't conclude that obesity or abdominal fat definitively led to asthma. 2010-01-07
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