By Fatima Mohammed-Lawal
Prof. Isaac Adegun of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ilorin, has warned against over slimming of the body and tummy protrusion beyond certain limit.
Adegun gave the warning during his paper presentation at the 193rd Inaugural Lecture of the University of Ilorin.
The 193rd University of Ilorin inaugural lecture has its theme as “God the creator, Man the manipulator: the journey so far in Engineering manipulation of fluids and geometries for human life”.
The don observed that human body was designed to be elliptical in shape.
The expert in Thermofluids Engineering explained that the elliptical shape of humans is important for heat transfer and for human thermal comfort.
According to him, it is therefore not appropriate enough to model human body as circular cylinder as it is being assumed by some researchers.
“For good heat transfer, the thickness of human tummy should be almost half the width of the chest, anything greater than that can lead to thermal discomfort of the body.
“Also the more collapsed the tummy beyond aspect ratio of 0.5, the more the friction created by the walls through which the fluids flow in the body system, and therefore, the more the load on the heart which is the mechanical pump in man.
“For those interested in body slimming, they should be conscious of the danger inherent in over slimming so as not to create another problem,” he warned.
The expert advised that for thermal comfort, effective performance at work, long life and good health, the ratio of tummy size to chest width should be between 0.4 and 0.7.
Adegun reiterated that body as circular cylindrical object should change to elliptical system because God modelled man to be elliptical.
He advised people to be mindful of what they ate and drank and what they did because that could unduly and unnecessary protrude the tummy.
He also advised that for good thermal comfort and long lifespan people should judiciously use fluid around and make sure it was not polluted.
“We should be measuring our tummy-chest (T-C) ratio regularly and see the medical practitioners or those in human kinetics for appropriate counselling, particularly when ratio T-C is 0.50. (NAN)