Metabolic Syndrome

The term “metabolic syndrome” has recently become well known in Japan. It is the idea that heart disease, or stroke, is likely the result of arteriosclerosis which is also worsened by conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia, also known as high cholesterol. 

Obesity is the main contributing factor for all these syndromes. In 2005, a Japanese medical symposium announced that obesity is determined by the size of the abdomen, not by BMI, because the size of the abdomen shows how much interior fat exists. It is true that high interior fat contributes to diabetes, high blood pressure, and hyperlipidemia. Men who exceed an abdominal size of 85cm (33.5in) and women who exceed 90cm (35.4in) who also earn 2 out of 3 points in a diagnostic test were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

In 2008, a number of people questioned this diagnostic and subsequent research has been done. On February 9, 2010, the Japanese Ministry of Health and the Wealth Metabolism Institute officially announced that the former abdominal size limits cannot be used to determine metabolic syndrome.

In conjunction with this, WHO has indicated that those who have the following abdominal size are likely to develop some related syndromes; men with an abdominal size of 90cm (35.4in), women with a size of 80cm (31.5in), and both with a BMI of 23.

BMI stands for body mass index and is used as a guideline to compare an individual’s size to others and is based on their height and weight ratio. The calculation for BMI in metrics is your weight (kg) divided by your height (m) squared. In the US, it is calculated using your weight (lb) divided by your height (in) squared, times 703.

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