It's widely known that abdominal fat, especially those pesky love handles on your hips, can make you susceptible to metabolic syndrome (which leads to conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, etc).
Now, a new study published in the second issue for March of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine says that increased fat in the midsection can significantly decrease lung function. That's the case indepedent of common lung factors such as smoking and gender. The study says that the at risk groups are women with waist measurements 35 inches or higher and men at 40 inches or higher.
Writes Dr. Natalie Leone, of the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research and the study's lead author: "Abdominal obesity may mechanically affect the diaphragm and chest wall compliance with decreased lung volumes."
Read the study yourself here.
