Research

Hormonal

The 'Hypertriglyceridemic Waist' phenotype (elevated waist circumference combined with high fasting triglycerides) is a simple, effective clinical marker for identifying visceral obesity and insulin resistance, superior to BMI or waist circumference alone.

If you have a large waist, check your fasting triglycerides. If both are high, you likely have visceral fat and insulin resistance, even if your BMI is normal. This 'Hypertriglyceridemic Waist' is a strong signal to prioritize lifestyle changes to reduce visceral fat.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
we have previously proposed that an elevated fasting triglyceride concentration could represent, when waist circumference is increased, a simple clinical marker of excess visceral/ectopic fat
Jean‐Pierre Després et al. · Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology · 2008

Why this rating

Based on population-based studies (Quebec Health Survey) and mechanistic explanations of postprandial lipemia.

Source

Abdominal Obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome: Contribution to Global Cardiometabolic Risk

Jean‐Pierre Després et al. · Arteriosclerosis Thrombosis and Vascular Biology · 2008

DOI 10.1161/atvbaha.107.159228

narrative_reviewCited 1,579×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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