Cardiovascular Disease risk factors:
Obesity
Being overweight or obese can lead to many serious health conditions and can increase your risk of heart and circulatory diseases such as heart attack, stroke and vascular dementia.
The amount of energy in food or drink is measured in kilocalories (kcal), commonly called calories. You bring energy (calories) into your body by eating and you burn calories by being active. When you eat and drink more calories than you use up, your body stores the excess calories as body fat. If you regularly eat more calories than you use up, you will start to gain weight. Keep also in mind that some medications or medical conditions can lead to weight gain.
Speak to your Doctor if you’re concerned about your weight.
Being overweight can lead to fatty material building up in your arteries (the blood vessels that carry blood to your organs). If the arteries that carry blood to your heart get damaged and clogged, it can lead to a heart attack. If this happens in the arteries that carry blood to your brain it can lead to a stroke or vascular dementia.
Everyone needs some body fat to stay healthy. But too much, particularly around the waist, puts your health at risk.
We have different types of fat in the body.
Many people tend to worry about the fat they can feel, the one that sits directly under their skin. This is called subcutaneous fat. But it’s visceral fat, the fat that surrounds our internal organs such as our heart and liver, that is the bigger health risk.
Visceral fat affects how your hormones work and can:
- raise your blood cholesterol
- increase your blood pressure
- increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
All of these risk factors are closely linked with heart and circulatory diseases.
Carrying weight around your middle can make it harder for your body to use a hormone called insulin, which controls your blood glucose (sugar) levels. This can lead to Type 2 diabetes. Having high levels of glucose in your bloodstream damages your arteries and increases your risk of heart and circulatory diseases.
People who are ‘apple’ shaped (carry excess weight around their middle) are at higher risk than those who are ‘pear’ shaped (carry weight around their hips, thighs and bottom) because the fat sits around their organs.
There are two measurements commonly used to assess whether you’re overweight – Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference.
Measuring your BMI
The first step to calculating your BMI is to measure your height and weight. Your Doctor or a nurse at your local clinic can do this for you if you can’t do this at home.
Using your height and your weight, you’ll be able to work out your BMI. You can use our BMI calculator to help you do this and find out if your weight is putting your health at risk.
Your BMI score will place you into one of four categories: underweight, healthy, overweight or obese.
As BMI doesn’t take muscle mass into account, you may find yourself in the overweight or obese category if you’re muscular.
This is why it’s important to use other measurements to assess your health risk, like waist measurement.
You can measure your waist to see whether you’re carrying too much fat around your middle. A larger waist measurement is often a sign that you have too much visceral fat.
It’s important to note that your waist measurement will not be the same as the measurement you use when shopping for your jeans or trousers.
To measure your waist, you’ll need a tape measure. You should place it halfway between the bottom of your ribs and top of your hips, and hold the tape measure firmly just above your belly button to take the measurement.
Use our waist measurement tool to check whether your waist measurement is putting your health at risk.
The recommended waist measurements are:
- Below 37 inches (94cm) for men
- Below 31.5 inches (80cm) for women.
Weight Management
To lose weight, you may need to change your eating habits and be more active. The best way to do this is to start with small changes – as they add up, you could see some big results. Here are some of the changes you can make to lose weight:
- Eat the right portion sizes
- Eat a healthier diet
- Read food labels and avoid things labelled in red
- Be more active
Physical inactivity
Physical inactivity or being sedentary is when you don’t move your body for long periods of time. This can include sitting or lying on the sofa watching TV, and sitting at a desk or computer. Being physically active doesn’t mean you need to join a gym or run a marathon. It can include things like housework and gardening – it’s all about getting up and moving more.
Being inactive can lead to fatty material building up in your arteries (the blood vessels that carry blood to your organs). If the arteries that carry blood to your heart get damaged and clogged, it can lead to a heart attack. If this happens in the arteries that carry blood to your brain it can lead to a stroke. The good news is there are many ways to reduce the risk of this happening.
The heart is a muscle, and like any other muscle it needs physical activity or exercise to help it work properly. When you’re active, your lungs do a better job of getting oxygen into your blood so it can be pumped to all the tissues and cells of your body.
Being active can reduce your risk of developing some heart and circulatory diseases by as much as 35%. Regular physical activity:
- helps control your blood pressure and keep it within healthy levels
- raises your levels of good cholesterol, and reduces the bad cholesterol
- can help to control your blood glucose levels, reducing your risk of Type 2 diabetes
- increases the number of calories you burn and helps you maintain a healthy weight.
Not only does regular activity protect your heart, it can also help your general wellbeing by boosting your mood, improving your concentration and memory, and helping you sleep better.
To reduce your risk of heart and circulatory diseases, you need to be active every day. You don’t need to do specific exercises or take up a sport, you can go for a walk, mow the lawn, vacuum, or dance along to music. Any activity is better than none, and you should try to break up long periods of inactivity like sitting or lying down. When you’re watching TV, get up and walk around during the ad breaks.
Aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity per week. This is anything that raises your heart rate, and makes you breathe faster and feel warmer, like brisk walking or cycling. You can spread out the 150 minutes over the week. You can even do short bursts of activity – every minute counts. You should also aim to do muscle strengthening activities like using hand weights, climbing the stairs, gardening such as digging, or carrying heavy shopping on at least two days a week.
