London, Aug 11 (IANS): Women with larger waistlines are two times more likely to die young, reveals a study.

Being fat around the middle was already known to be linked to inflammation, insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, abnormal cholesterol levels and heart disease.

But the research revealed these factors dramatically increase the risk of dying from any cause over a nine-year period, reports dailymail.co.uk.

A team from the American Cancer Society compared waist circumference and death rates in a population of 48,500 men and 56,343 women aged 50 and older. All had participated in a large cancer study which asked them to provide information about weight and waistlines. Deaths among the participants and their causes were tracked for a total of nine years.

The results, published in the journal 'Archives of Internal Medicine', showed having a very large waist roughly doubled the risk of death during the study period for both men and women.

The pattern was seen in men with a waist circumference of 47 inches or more, and women measuring at least 42 inches around the middle.

This was after making adjustments to take account of body mass index - a standard measurement relating weight and height - and other risk factors.