KARACHI: Health experts have warned people with wider waistlines of having higher risk of health problems, including diabetes, than someone with a narrow waist. Less fat around the waist not only glamorize both men and women but also reduces risk of having diabetes, they opined. International and local diabetic experts expressed these views during a session on the second of the International Diabetes and Endocrine Congress (IDEC 2016) on how abdominal fat increases disease risk and about epidemics of diabetes and obesity inPakistan. The three-day event is being organized by Baqai Institute of Diabetology and Endocrinology (BIDE), at a local hotel. There are two main body shape types- apple and pear. The risk for a person with an apple-shaped body appears to be higher as compared to pear-shaped person. According to a recent research, medical expert use waist size and body shape, along with body weight, to predict person’s risk for chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and stroke. 32 inches waist size for women is considered ideal, high risk for 32-35 while there is very high risk 35 inches. Similarly waist size for men is ideal if it 37 inches, high risk between 37-40 inches and very high risk at 40 inches and above. “Anybody who is an Asian, over 35 years of age, has 35 inches or above waist and has a family history of diabetes is at the risk of getting diabetes”, said renowned diabetologist Prof. Abdus Samad Shera while addressing the session. Professor Samad Shera, who is also president of International Diabetes Federation (IDF), feared that number of patients with diabetes would be doubled in 2040 in Pakistan as currently; the country is facing an epidemic of diabetes and obesity while around 14 million people would be pre-diabetics but without knowing their condition. “We are facing two epidemics at the moment– diabetes and obesity,” he added. Prof. Shera claimed that lifestyle diabetes or type II diabetes is a symptom-less disease which silently progresses and a person only knows about it when it could not be reversed. He stated that frequent urination, thirst, dryness of the throat are the symptoms of type I, which is a genetic and auto-immune disease. “The diabetes we are facing these days is initially a symptom-less disease which does not show any symptom at least for six years”, he informed. Talking about prevention, he advised people to eat less and walk more to avoid getting the lifestyle diabetes.