In recent years the focus of the diet world and many public health programs has been on overall weight loss and the body mass index - leaving visceral fat virtually unnoticed.
Yet visceral fat (fat around the organs) is a stronger predictor of early death than any other number, either BMI or the one that shows up on the scale.
A survey of 12,000 adults in Europe reported by GlaxoSmithKline shows that 9 out of 10 had no idea that having waist fat was a signal of the buildup of dangerous visceral fat around the internal organs.
This type of fat, fat you can't see or feel, has been identified as a risk for health problems like type 2 diabetes or heart disease.
Waist sizes over 31.
5 inches (80 cm) for women, 37 inches (94 cm) for both white and black men, and 35 inches (90 cm) for South Asian men are believed to be the most troublesome.
"Most overweight people still see themselves as having a body image issue not a health problem and they need to understand the health benefits of weight loss as well as the cosmetic results," says report author Dr.
Terry Maguire, an honorary senior lecturer at Queen's University in Belfast.
Nearly two thirds (64%) of the survey respondents said that they were planning to begin a diet in the New Year.
However, 86% of those surveyed admitted to dieting resolutions that had been unsuccessful in the past.
Once those surveyed learned about the dangers of this fat around the waist, 79% claimed to be more motivated to lose weight.
Earlier research has found that a larger waistline is a reliable clinical indication of visceral fat, and fat in this area ups your risk of diseases that are linked to being overweight.
Visceral fat is so dangerous because its related to the release of proteins and hormones that bring on inflammation which can damage your arteries (upping the risk of thrombosis and stroke), and release fatty acids that enter the liver, your metabolic powerhouse, affecting how the body breaks down sugars and fats.
What's more, very large belly fat cells release more toxins/waste products that end up tucked in between the internal organs, sounding the alert to the immune system, creating even more trouble.
When it comes to losing the weight, report co-author Professor David Haslam, chair of the UK's National Obesity Forum, suggests that steady, sustained weight loss - a 5% to 10% decrease in body weight - is the way to go.
Fad diet plans, no matter how good the spokespeople look, or how easy the plan sounds, are just not going to bring results over the long term.
According to Haslam, "Fad diets, which usually promise quick fix weight loss, are unsustainable.
They can actually do more harm than good," he explains, "Invariably weight is put back on, with some of the weight regained accumulating as visceral fat.
" Experts agree that the dangers of visceral fat may take a long time to get into the public consciousness, and the survey results are not all that surprising.
The most recent numbers have about two-thirds of men, and more than half of all women in the U.
K.
being overweight.
Not to be outdone, U.
S.
rates are among the highest in the world at 64% of adults classified as either overweight or obese.
Estimates have 75% of U.
S.
adults being overweight and a full 41% falling into the obese category by 2015 - in just five years.
The good news? When you lose waist fat, the report found that visceral fat is more easily converted to energy than fat just under the skin.
Even a small weight loss can bring a big difference in how you look and feel, but also to your overall health.