Body Types

Body Types

Are you an apple or a pear?

Weight around the hips is healthier than around the belly

When talking about body types, how your weight is distributed may be even more important than how much weight you have in the first place. At least when it comes to determining risks to your health. If you are carrying around too much weight in your upper body, your health is at far greater risk than if you are carrying extra weight around your hips, buttocks and thighs.

All of that excessive fat about the hips, around the belly and in the upper torso has been found by researchers to be associated with an increased risk of breast and uterine cancer, hart disease and diabetes, as well as a host of other aliments.

To assess whether your weight distribution puts you at higher risk, ask yourself whether your body more closely resembles the shape of an apple or the shape of a pear. “Apples” carry extra weight in the upper body and are often bigger at the waist than in the hips – traits found more often in men than in women. “Pears”, on the other hand, carry their weight low. Their waists are smaller than their hips. They are usually women.

A more precise assessment can be obtained by measuring your hips and waist, and then dividing your waist measurement by your hip measurement. If the result is 0.75 or less, you are pear-shaped. If the result is 0.75 to 0.80, you are mildly apple-shaped. And a result greater than 0.80 puts you squarely in the Apple category. If that’s the case, you’d benefit from directing some of your energy toward taking off some pounds in the right places.

Body Types. Photo by Elena

That may be easier said than done, however. According to a team of researchers at Rockefeller University, humans have a gene that tips the brain off when the body has stored all the fat it needs to get by and it is best to stop eating. But mutations in that gene can prevent it from signaling when it’s time to push away from the table, the researchers have suggested, resulting in chronic overeating for some.

If you unlucky enough to have inherited such an “obesity gene,” proper exercise will behoove you all the more.

Looking into the funhouse mirror: About one in four American adults has a serious weight problem, but a lot more than that wish they were svelter.

The Body Politic

The Endomorph: Grover Cleveland was the heaviest: His bull neck and barrel chest rank him as a rare endomorph among American presidents.

The Mesomorph: George Washington had a powerful physique with broad sloping shoulders, making him a classic mesomorph.

The Ectomorph: Abraham Lincoln was tall and thin at 6 feet, 4 inches, and weighed only 180 pounds, making him an ectomorph.

Jogging. Photo by Elena

Do You Weigh What You Should?

For decades, medical guidelines on how to figure the ideal weight for your height have been based on life insurance industry tables, showing the heights and weights at which their customers have had the greatest longevity. The U.S. Government, citing the results of recent research, has published a height/weight table blessing slightly higher weights for people over the age of 35. But other authorities are questioning the wisdom of that message.