Anyone who takes an interest in their fitness and weight will be familiar with the common body shapes, such as pear, apple, hourglass, athletic and petite. Now evidence is emerging that your body shape can have an effect on your health.
A study in the Netherlands has shown that those with an apple-shaped body – where fat is concentrated around the belly or abdomen – face an increased risk of developing kidney disease. The Dutch research concluded that even apple-shaped individuals who are not overweight still face that increased risk.
Kidney disease, where the kidneys begin to malfunction and fail to remove waste from the blood stream, is a serious long-term health condition that affects millions of people. Obesity is known to be one of the causes of the disease and it is particularly common among those who are already diabetic – another condition linked to obesity.
The Dutch study, published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, was carried out by researchers from the University Medical Centre Groningen to examine the known link between obesity and kidney disease. The team focused on the waist-to-hip ratio and kidney profiles of 315 participants with an average body mass index (BMI) of 25, which is considered to be normal weight.
The study revealed that higher waist-to-hip ratios, even among healthy individuals, is directly associated with kidney disease, including lower kidney function and blood flow, and higher blood pressure within the kidneys. The conclusion is that having an apple shape leads to higher blood pressure in the kidneys even in individuals who are healthy and have normal blood pressure. The risk is greater when an individual is overweight or obese.
The study concluded that there is a two-fold increased risk of high renal blood pressure in individuals who have an apple-shaped body. What causes this is not yet known but the Dutch team postulates that the fat around the waist or belly could be triggering inflammation or insulin resistance that impedes blood flow; or that increased fat creates more free radicals that damage the kidneys.
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