Impact of Smoking on Belly Fat
Research suggests that smokers may have more belly fat, particularly visceral fat, compared to non-smokers. Visceral fat surrounds the internal organs in the abdomen and is associated with a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and dementia. Despite potentially having a flat stomach, individuals can still carry unhealthy amounts of visceral fat, increasing the risk of serious illnesses.
Study Findings
- A study published in the journal Addiction indicates that both starting smoking and lifetime smoking may lead to an increase in visceral fat.
- Researchers at the University of Copenhagen’s NNF Center for Basic Metabolic Research analyzed data from European ancestry studies involving 1.2 million people who started smoking and over 450,000 lifetime smokers.
- Using Mendelian randomisation, the researchers determined that smoking could cause an increase in abdominal fat, particularly visceral fat.
Public Health Implications
Lead author Dr. German D Carrasquilla emphasized the importance of large-scale efforts to prevent and reduce smoking in the general population. By reducing smoking rates, there is a potential to decrease abdominal visceral fat and lower the risk of chronic diseases associated with it.
Association Between Smoking and Type 2 Diabetes
Another study presented at the American Heart Association’s conference suggests a link between tobacco exposure before birth, starting smoking during childhood or adolescence, and the development of Type 2 diabetes later in life.
Key Findings
- Based on data from almost 476,000 adults in the UK Biobank, researchers found that individuals who started smoking in childhood had double the risk of type 2 diabetes compared to non-smokers.
- Those who began smoking as adolescents had a 57% higher risk, while individuals who initiated smoking during adulthood had a 33% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.