It's not just the amount of weight that a person carries that matters, it's also where they carry it. "Apples," people who carry their fat in the abdomen, are more likely to have diabetes and heart disease than "pears," people who deposit weight on the hips and thighs. Waist measurement is a better indicator of risk than body mass index. Waists larger than 40 inches in men and 35 inches in women are in the danger zone. Abdominal fat is thought to be dangerous because it is deposited as visceral fat, fat deep inside the abdomen, as well as subcutaneous (under the skin) fat. Inside the body it wraps around the vital organs of the abdomen. The toxic chemicals that visceral fat secretes go straight to the liver and may interfere with its functions, including helping to regulate glucose and cholesterol.

The more visceral fat you carry around, the higher your chances of developing insulin resistance (leading to diabetes), heart disease, and other metabolic syndromes. If you remain inactive, visceral can pile up at the rate of about 4 pounds per year. However, research shows that exercise significantly reduces visceral fat and actually shrinks fat cells. Liposuction, which removes only subcutaneous fat, doesn't improve health and has no effect on blood pressure, cholesterol, and insulin resistance. The best way to get rid of fat, especially visceral fat, and shrink fat cells is diet and exercise.

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