Why Your Body Shape Matters

Struggling to zip up your jeans is more than just a cosmetic problem – it’s a potential health problem too.

- Nicky Perks

Where you carry your excess weight is a good predictor of disease risk, which is why determining whether you’re shaped like an apple, pear or avocado is important. Apples carry most of their weight around their tummies. Their waist is less defined, which means they also have more fat covering their internal organs (visceral fat). These individuals are the ones most at risk for developing health issues. Visceral fat is metabolically active and inflammatory, and can lead to higher triglyceride levels, raised blood pressure, higher blood glucose, and an increase in the more dangerous small, dense LDL particles. Having a big tummy increases the risk of insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, dementia and some cancers. Basically, if you’re apple-shaped you could be looking at a shortened life expectancy – if you don’t take action.

Pears carry most of their fat around the hips, bum and thighs and are narrower in the waist. This fat distribution doesn’t come with as many health risks as an apple shape – but it’s not entirely riskfree either (see opposite). The fat is mainly subcutaneous (under the skin), and doesn’t cover any vital organs in the same way visceral fat does. An avocado’s fat is more evenly distributed, including around the viscera, and this body shape falls between an apple and a pear in terms of health risk.