A large waist circumference can lead to increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, but a survey showed that up to 46.8 percent of respondents had not measured their waist in the past year, the Taiwan Millennium Health Foundation said on Monday as it announced the launch of its annual waist measurement health awareness campaign.
The foundation and the Health Promotion Administration hold “89 Waist Measurement Day” on or around Aug. 9, with the month and date numbers to remind people to keep a healthy waist size — below 80cm for women and below 90cm for men.
Foundation chairman Wayne Sheu (許惠恒) said this year is the 16th campaign since it was launched in 2006.
Photo: Chiu Chih-jou, Taipei Times
About 70 percent of people are aware of the “80cm and 90cm” healthy waistline standard, but 46.8 percent did not measure their waist in the past year, Sheu said, citing a foundation survey.
Given the results, the foundation collaborated with the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA), adding a new feature to its NHI Express App that reminds people to keep a log of their waist measurements.
NHIA Director-General Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar — are common health issues among adults, so the NHIA in June launched a metabolic syndrome prevention program.
As the NHI Express App has been downloaded more than 20 million times, the NHIA hopes it will become a “health passbook,” Lee said.
HPA Deputy Director Wei Shi-lun (魏璽倫) said that among the approximately 1.9 million people who in 2020 underwent the government-funded adult preventive health examination for adults aged 40 or older, more than 60 percent had a waist circumference exceeding 80cm or 90cm and metabolic syndrome.
Chan Ding-cheng (詹鼎正), director of National Taiwan University Hospital’s Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology, said that the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome is made when a person meets three of five criteria: a large waist circumference; blood pressure of 130/85 millimeters of mercury or higher; a fasting blood glucose level of 100 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or more, or the person is taking glucose-lowering medication; a triglyceride level of 150mg/dL or more; and a high-density lipoprotein level less than 40mg/dL for men or less than 50mg/dL for women.
A large waist circumference suggests an excess of abdominal visceral fat, which can lead to increased risk of cancer, dementia and cardiovascular diseases, Chan said.
Studies suggest that the risk of developing cardiovascular disease increases by 2 percent for each 1cm of waist circumference, while the risk of death is increased by 17 percent in men and by 13 percent in women for each 5cm, he said.
People with a healthy waist circumference should measure it at least once per year, while those with a large waist circumference should do so every week, he said, adding that the records can be kept using the NHI Express App.
The foundation in cooperation with Uni-President Group has a program to distribute free measuring tapes at more than 1,300 locations of the corporation’s 16 distribution channels, including 7-Eleven convenience stores, Starbucks coffee shops and Carrefour supermarkets.
People can enter a lottery on the foundation’s Web site to win cash certificates by logging their waist circumference on NHI Express App before Sunday next week.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RSS