大肚子對心臟不好

Belly fat, even in people who are not overall overweight, is a sign of an unhealthy heart, a new study reports.

一項新研究認為即便肚子大的人總體而言不算超重，腹部肥胖也預示著心臟不健康。

“See your doctor if your waist is bigger than your hips,” said study author Dr. Jose Medina-Inojosa

該研究的作者Jose Medina-Inojosa博士表示：“如果你的腰圍比臀圍大，那么你應該去看醫(yī)生。”

The most common way to measure how overweight or underweight someone is the Body Mass Index (BMI), a simple measure defined as the body mass divided by the square of the body height. BMI is a decent index, but it’s far from perfect and can be misleading. BMI completely disregards the distribution of muscle and fat. Muscles are much denser and compact than fatty tissue, so someone with a lot of muscle might seem overweight and similarly, a person might have a normal BMI but be high on fat and low on muscle. Storing fat around the belly is a very bad sign for your health, even if your overall weight seems fine.

衡量一個人是否超重最常見的方法是身體質量指數(BMI)，它根據人們的身高來定義身體質量。BMI是一個相當好的指標，但它并不算完美，有時候會誤導人。BMI完全無視了肌肉和脂肪的分布。相比脂肪組織，肌肉的密度更大。因此某個擁有很多肌肉的人似乎會超重，類似的某個BMI正常的人也有可能擁有很多脂肪和很少的肌肉。將脂肪儲存在腹部周圍，對人體健康十分不好，即便你的整體重量似乎沒問題。

The study tracked 1,692 residents of Olmsted County, Minnesota, aged 45 years or older, a sample that was representative of the county population for age and sex. Participants underwent clinical evaluation and also underwent measurements of their weight, height, hip, and waist circumference. Researchers defined central obesity, in a ratio which divides the waist circumference by the hip circumference, as 0.90 or above for men and 0.85 or above for women.

該研究追蹤了明尼蘇達州奧姆斯特郡1692名居民，他們的年齡在45歲及以上。這一人口樣本能夠代表該郡人口年齡和性別。參與者們經歷了臨床診斷和體重、身高、臀圍及腰圍測量。研究人員們定義中心肥胖為男性腰臀比超過0.9及以上，女性腰臀比超過0.85及以上。

The initial study was carried out from 1997 to 2000, and follow-up evaluations were carried up until 2016. Researchers found that people with a normal BMI and central obesity were twice as likely to suffer from heart problems compared to participants without central obesity, regardless of their BMI. Dr. Medina-Inojosa said:“People with a normal weight but a fat belly have more chance of heart problems than people without a fat belly, even if they are obese according to BMI. This body shape indicates a sedentary lifestyle, low muscle mass, and eating too many refined carbohydrates.”

最初的研究在1997年至2000年之間進行，隨后的評估在2016年才開始。研究人員們發(fā)現相比沒有中心肥胖的參與者(不論其BMI如何)，BMI正常但中心肥胖的參與者患心臟病的概率更大。Medina-Inojosa博士說道：“體重正常但腹部肥胖的人患心臟病的概率比那些腹部不胖的人更大，即便后者從BMI來看算肥胖人士。這一體型預示著久坐的生活方式、肌肉質量低以及吃了太多精致碳水化合物。”

The opposite is also true: people with a higher BMI but no belly fat probably have more muscle tissue, which is a sign of better health.

反之也對：BMI更高但腹部不胖的人有更多肌肉組織，這說明他們更健康。

“The belly is usually the first place we deposit fat, so people classified as overweight BMI but without a fat belly probably have more muscle which is good for health,” he continued. “Muscle is like a metabolic storehouse and helps decrease lipid and sugar levels in the blood.”

“腹部是我們分解脂肪的第一個地方，因此被BMI判定為超重但腹部不胖的人有更多肌肉，這對健康有好處。肌肉就像新陳代謝庫，能夠幫助減少血液中的脂質和糖分。”

The main takeaway, Medina-Inojosa says, is for doctors not to assume that patients are at low risk of heart conditions just because they have a normal BMI. As useful as the BMI can be, it can also be misleading, tricking patients into a sense of false security.

Medina-Inojosa認為該研究的主要意義在于，告訴醫(yī)生不要因為病人BMI正常就認為病人患心臟病的概率低。BMI雖然有用，但它也存在誤導性，給了病人錯誤的安全感。

“Our study provides evidence that doctors should also measure central obesity to get a better picture of whether a patient is at risk,” Medina-Inojosa concludes.

Medina-Inojosa總結道：“我們的研究認為醫(yī)生還應該衡量中心肥胖度，從而更了解病人的情況。”

The results have not been peer-reviewed yet.

該研究尚未經過同行評議。