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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Theres yet another reason to eliminate love handles. A new study links abdominal obesity to decreased lung function. Excess weight around the waist is already associated with diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other health problems collectively known as metabolic syndrome.
The new research was conducted in France. It analyzed the health data of more than 120,000 people. Abdominal obesity was defined as having a waist circumference of greater than 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men. Researchers found waist size to be linked to decreased lung function independently of smoking history, sex, body mass index (BMI) and other complicated factors.
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Abdominal obesity may mechanically affect the diaphragm and chest wall compliance with decreased lung volumes, author Natalie Leone, M.D. of French National Institute for Health and Medical Research was quoted as saying.
SOURCE: American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, March 2009 (second issue)
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