Don’t Just Buy Bigger Pants

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Monday, July 09, 2012 12:59 pm Email this article

​Most people gaining weight notice when their pants or, I guess, dress gets too tight. I urge you NOT to simply buy new pants when that happens. Fight the good fight. Eventually, as you age or have children, you may make a few, grudging strategic withdrawals to larger pants sizes, but don't give ground willingly.

The waist size is an interesting matter. What is waist size? It's not simple! The "waist" is defined as the part of the human body between the bottom of the rib cage and the top of the pelvis. The top of the pelvis is marked by the bony ridge on either side of the lower abdomen, the prominence most people call their "hips", even though it's not really the hip joints. Look at it this way--the belly button is located squarely (or roundly as the case may be) in the middle of the waist. In skinny people the waist size is the SMALLEST circumference within the anatomical waist. That definition doesn't work for fat people; for them, the waist size is the LARGEST circumference, i.e. indistiguishable from the abdominal girth measured at the umbilicus (belly button). In men the waist size is approximately equal to the pants size; women have a totally different size system. I have no idea what an '8' or a '12' means, but they do. Recently we have had several studies and experts pronouncing that waist size or waist-to-hip ratio or the new BAI (body adiposity index) are better measures of obesity than the BMI. Small miracle. Anything is better than the BMI. Hell, shoe size is better. It doesn't make much difference in my practice. The fat people know who they are and what they do. Believe me, they know.

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