Factors in Body Shape to Health

We all know that fruit is a healthy food choice. But have you ever given much thought to the lesson that fruit can teach about your chances of developing certain diseases. There's  more to deciding if our weight is healthy than looking at our BMI. We should also look at where that weight is car this is where fruit comes in—more specifically, apples and pears. But we're not really talking fruit here, we're talking body shape.

Apple-shaped people—those who carry excess weight at then waists are more likely to get many diseases, including type1 diabetes. Pear-shaped people—those who carry excess weight around the hips—are less likely to get these same diseases. But how can you tell if you're an apple or a pear? Simple. need to get out the tape measure, measure the inches around your waist, and then the inches around the widest portion of your hips. The waist measurement is then divided by the hip measurement. This handy testis called the waist-to-hip ratio. If your waists number is higher than your hip number, you are an apple.  if the hip number is higher, you are a pear.

Men with waist to hip ratio greater than 1.0 are at greater risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes. For women, higher risk starts at a ratio of 0.8.

So even though apples and pears may be just about equal from a nutritional standpoint, apple and pear body shapes definitely are not equal when it comes to developing diseases. Your weight may be just right for you, but where you carry that weight may be putting you at higher risk for illness. Your body shape is one more factor to consider in determining what action you personally need to take to prevent disease.

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