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Dr. Tongjian You, a geriatric medicine expert at Wake Forest University, says your waistline may shrink when you diet, but you’ll need to exercise to reduce the size of your abdominal fat cells just under the skin.

“The message is very clear,” said You, who conducted a five-year study on abdominal fat cells. “Exercise is important to reducing the size of these cells and may one day be part of a prescription for treating the health complications associated with abdominal fat.”

Overall, health experts say, obesity is a major risk factor for diabetes and heart disease. However, people who have more abdominal fat - the so-called “apple” body shape - are at higher risk of the conditions than people who store their fat in their hips and thighs, the “pear” shape.

Burning 400 caloriesYou’s study in August’s International Journal of Obesity on the size of abdominal fat cells traces research on 45 middle-age women suffering from obesity. The entire study, which involve up to 125 women when completed, seeks to determine what lifestyle changes are needed to reduce belly fat.

You’s study in August’s on the size of abdominal fat cells traces research on 45 middle-age women suffering from obesity. The entire study, which involve up to 125 women when completed, seeks to determine what lifestyle changes are needed to reduce belly fat.One group of women cut their calories through diet only.

The second group walked about 1 to 2 miles per hour on a treadmill for 50 minutes three times a week. A third group walked three times a week, but at 3.5 to 4 miles an hour for 30 minutes.

Women in both exercise groups burned 400 calories each week through walking. All women in the study ate food for lunch and supper selected by a registered dietitian, You says.

After 20 weeks, all women had lost 19 to 23 pounds, cut three to four inches off their hips, and sliced four inches off their waists. But women who relied on nothing but dieting recorded no changes in the size of their abdominal fat cells, compared to an 18-percent reduction for women who exercised.

“It is important to complete our larger study to see if these results hold true,” You says. “But, these early findings do point to the importance of exercise in treating the complications of abdominal fat.”