New research by Canadian scientists suggests that doctors should add a tape measure to their key diagnostic tool kit.
Current figures estimate that 59% of Canadian adults are overweight and 23% are obese, and along with the worrying increase in childhood obesity, it is clearly a major health issue in Canada.
New obesity management guidelines published in the Canadian Medical Journal recommend that all Canadian adults and adolescents have their waist circumference measured during their regular checkups.
The Canadian Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management and Prevention of Obesity in Adults and Children, is a 120-page document complied by dozens of experts across the country and measuring belly girth is one of the key recommendations.
The guidelines offer the first comprehensive framework for Canadian health-care professionals and policy-makers to use in the battle against obesity and the diseases that result from it such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes.
Dr. David Lau, president of Obesity Canada, a non-profit organization dedicated to reducing the number of overweight and obese Canadians, says as almost 60 per cent of Canadian adults are overweight and almost one-quarter obese, stepping on a scale and plotting weight and height on a graph are no longer enough.
Lau, an endocrinologist and a professor of medicine at the University of Calgary says the waist circumference measurement is a new "vital sign".