London - Women with a spare tyre around the middle are three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes, say experts.
And men with bulging waistlines are in bigger trouble – with a fivefold increase in risk.
The danger zones are above 40 inches for men or 34.7 for women.
The importance of keeping middle-age spread in check to avoid the health hazards of diabetes is highlighted in a report from Public Health England.
Nine out of ten adults with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese and rates of both obesity and diabetes are on the increase.
Around 100 Britons each week have a limb amputated as a result of diabetes, and diabetic eye disease is one of the main causes of preventable blindness among adults.
According to the report, women with a waist between 31 and a half inches and 34 and a half are at higher risk of diabetes than those below the lower threshold.
At more than 34.7inches (88cm), they are at very high risk and three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Men who have a waist circumference of 37 inches to 40 inches (94cm to 102cm) are at higher risk, which rises to five times the risk above 40 inches.
The report underlines how abdominal fat – extra weight carried around the middle – is particularly risky to health.
It is thought that fat packed around the organs in the abdomen is more dangerous than fat on the hips because it is “metabolically active”, releasing more of the inflammatory, toxic chemicals that raise the risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Surveys have found that only one in eight people know the correct method of calculating waist size, which involves measuring at the midpoint between their ribs and the top of the hips.
There are 3.8 million people in the UK with all types of diabetes. By 2030 the total of adults affected is projected to rise to 4.6million, or 9.5 percent of the adult population. The disease costs the NHS £10-billion per year.
Barbara Young, chief executive at Diabetes UK, said the report highlights “how the increasing numbers of us who are overweight is fuelling an epidemic of type 2 diabetes”.
She added: “This is an epidemic that looks likely to get even worse and if this happens then the impact on the nation’s health would be devastating.
“We need the Government to focus much more on preventing type 2 diabetes. It needs to ensure the NHS Health Check is properly rolled out and that those it identifies as being at high risk of type 2 are given support to make lifestyle changes.
“It also needs to urgently consider making healthy food more accessible through taxation, other financial measures and more robust regulation of the food industry.”
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “The key to reducing diabetes is losing weight which can be achieved through a healthy diet and being more active.”
A guide on how to measure your waist is at: www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/849.aspx
How nuts combat diabetes
Eating nuts may help to combat type 2 diabetes. Two servings of tree nuts a day appears to lower and stabilise blood sugar levels in people with the disease, according to evidence collected from 12 clinical trials.
Tree nuts cover most types including walnuts, cashews, hazelnuts and pecans, but exclude peanuts. A single serving was defined as 30 grams.
The best results from analysing data on 450 trial participants were seen when nuts replaced refined carbohydrates rather than saturated fats. Dr John Sievenpiper from St Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, who led the study, said: “Tree nuts are another way people can maintain healthy blood sugar levels in the context of a healthy dietary pattern.”
While nuts are high in fat, it is of the healthier unsaturated variety. Although nuts can be high in calories, trial participants did not gain weight. - Daily Mail