I have a Betty Crocker Cookbook, it's a gift from my brother in law. According to the book, carrying excess fat is a known health risk, but where you carry it on your body matters, too. Yes, i believe it, that was absolutely correct. Studies show that people with "apple" shapes are those who tend to accumulate fat around their waists, have an increased risk of coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and even some cancers, when compared with their "pear" shaped counterparts, those who tend to carry fat around their hips and thighs. This connection between weight and body shape leads some health experts to feel that taking a waist measurement is important to assess health risks. Anyway, to determine whether you're carrying too much fat around your middle, place a tape measure around your waist just above your hipbones. A reading of more than forty inches in a man, or thirty five inches in a woman, is considered a health risk especially if your Body Mass Index (BMI) places you in the "overweight" range or above.
