You can't tell precisely how much of your fat is visceral without a CT or other body scan, but you can get a good idea by measuring your waist or your waist-to-hip ratio. Women are advised to shoot for a waistline of 35 inches or less and men 40 inches or less.

To determine your waist-to-hip ratio, divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. Lower is better. For example: a 30-inch waist to 40-inch hips ratio is 75 percent and a 40-inch waist to 40-inch hips ratio is 100 percent.

Of course, it's our genes that decide whether we're shaped more like an apple or a pear -- with more weight around the middle or around the hips. But that doesn't mean we're helpless to change. Here are a few suggestions:

• Boost your outgoing calories. A study of overweight men and women found the same amount of visceral fat was lost by those who cut calories by 25 percent and by those who cut calories by 12.5 percent and burned 12.5 percent more calories than usual.

• Move around more. Hours spent on the couch, at the computer or in the car are an invitation to belly fat. Whether you burn calories in a high-intensity exercise such as running, or a moderate-intensity exercise such as walking, it's all good. Just don't fall for those TV ads for pills and gadgets that "target belly fat." It doesn't work that way.

Source: Work & Family Life. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. Powered by YellowBrix.

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