Has anyone ever contacted their GP because of their waist size?

[Extracurricularfatigue]

I was just checking my BMI on the NHS calculator and I noticed that if your waist size is over 31.5 inches (80cm) you should ‘contact your GP’. Has anyone ever done this? Mine is over this measurement and I can only imagine the bemusement of one of my overworked group of GPs if I turned clutching a tape measure. In my experience there is not much they can or will do about a fat waist. It seems odd that the NHS is recommending this.

Seems bizarre!

It's probably so they can identify diabetes early as that's the magic number for a waist size which pushes into a higher diabetes risk category. I haven't gone to a GP specifically for this but it has been picked up and I am high risk for diabetes due to age, family history and waist size.

If my BMI were too high, I would look at that first.

If not, I'd ask for a blood sugar test.

Having fat around your organs is an indication of potential problems so although clumsily worded it means you should be aware of a a potential issue .. funny though because I have a very small waist but am overweight ( hourglass ) so it doesn't really make much sense .

Yes, I know it’s a risk factor etc. It was just the way it was worded that tickled me a bit last night - pretty much in the same wording as advice to head to your GP if you have a prolonged fever.

I can see that it would prove a useful prompt for someone who hasn’t realised they might be at risk - although I am still smiling at someone who trots off to the doctor and announces ‘I have a big waist and the NHS tells me I need to see you’.

I had the opposite in that I had a new patient checkup with the nurse who measured my waist 3 times to check I actually was that chubby then told me not to worry as my BMI is fine! It was 10 months after having baby #2 and I have a stubby body/long legs so never had that much of a waist anyway so maybe there were mitigating factors?

It’s not just diabetes - being an apple shape and storing fat round your middle rather than your bum and thighs puts you in a higher risk category for heart disease.
Your GP should not be dismissive of your concern, but check your glucose, cholesterol, lipids, bp, etc and treat accordingly - combined with weight loss advice.

No, but embarrassingly I did take baby DC1 to the Doctors with a cough because the cough mixture said if do not use for more than three days symptoms persist seek medical advice. I was only 19 though.

It's one of the key indicators for risk of future diabetes. If you go to your GP or nurse they can offer you 12 weeks slimming class referral for free

Save me from that then. 12 weeks of Syns and Muller Lights.

Don’t worry about me - I am fully in the medical machinery. I do think they perhaps though could contextualise the advice online a bit.

It greatly increases your risk for pretty much every being fat related disease. The fat interferes with organ function, it quite grim really. On the rare occasion I’ve measured over 80cm I’ve pretty much stopped eating for a couple days before it dipped back down to a healthy measurement. If it persisted over a long time I would get myself checked out and ask for help shifting the weight (in particular looking for hormonal abnormalities that can cause abnormal weight gain in particular because I am a healthy bmi and a hourglass so this sort of thing would be highly unusual). Fat around you internal organs isn’t something you should fuck around with.

I had a waist size of 31" whilst only weighing 9st 7. I had an "over 50s " medical where the nurse measured my waist like lightning and told me it was 29". No matter how hard I tried and pulled when I got home I couldn't get a measurement of 29 . . . it's possible she had the tape measure the wrong way round but I think it's more likely that they are told not to "find" issues when there aren't any, she had already told me that "for my age" I was underweight.

I have since lost 7" round my waist by low carbing and NOTHING I buy fits around the waist any more, so bigger waists are definitely the norm.