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So why is it that some of us tend to gain weight in our midsections? There is no single answer. Instead, the calculus behind the appearance of a potbelly involves four factors: genetics, eating habits, stress and hormones.
Genetics. The first part of the equation is the genetics of body shape. Some of us, says Savard, are just destined to be “apples,” with an inclination to gain weight in the stomach and upper-body region, while others are fated to be “pears,” who gain weight in their hips, buttocks, thighs and lower legs. According to Savard, it all comes down to your waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), which is the division of your waist measurement by your hip measurement. (For an accurate WHR measurement, relax your abdomen and measure at the navel and around the bony part of the hips.)
If you’re a woman whose WHR is 0.80 or lower, you are pear shaped; if your WHR is higher than 0.80, you’re apple shaped. For men (who, for the most part, are apple shaped, since they are more inclined to store visceral fat), the cutoff is 0.90 instead of 0.80.
Many experts now agree that WHR is a better indicator than body mass index (BMI) when it comes to determining someone’s disease risk. Even apples who are currently slender and have a low BMI, Savard says, could be at increased risk for disease later in life.
“If you’re a string bean with no obvious potbelly, but your waist-to-hip ratio is more than 0.80, you will tend to have more health problems than pear-shaped people if you gain weight,” she says. When WHR is greater than 1.0 in men or 0.90 in women, health experts may diagnose the condition as “central obesity.”
