Starting 1 January 2026, an amendment to the Czech preventive-checkup regulation adds waist circumference as a routine measurement at general-practitioner checkups, used as a marker of cardiometabolic risk. The GP checkup itself stays mandatory, publicly funded, and irreplaceable — InBody, Max Pulse, and blood-pressure readings never substitute for it. What they can do is fill in the picture between two checkups: show whether a growing waistline is really fat, or just differently distributed muscle, and how that changes over time.
The amendment to the preventive-checkup regulation, effective from 1 January 2026, broadens the scope of care you get at a general practitioner, gynaecologist, or paediatrician. According to overviews published by Czech health insurers such as ČPZP and VZP, the checkup now typically includes wider lab work — blood count, lipid panel, and glucose — plus an ECG at the first checkup after registering with a new GP. The goal is to catch cardiometabolic risk earlier, before it turns into disease.
The checkup also now recommends tracking waist circumference as a simple marker of abdominal fat — the kind of fat most consistently linked to cardiovascular and metabolic risk. The interval for the GP checkup itself stays at once every two years; for people over 50, and for those managing chronic conditions (cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure), there's more emphasis on actually completing the expanded exam within that window.
The exact wording and scope — specific age thresholds, intervals for particular groups, the precise regulation number — vary slightly between sources and are still being clarified in practice. If you want to know exactly what your next checkup will include, the safest bet is to ask your GP or your health insurer directly. What typically happens next with a reading like blood pressure is a separate question worth its own look.
Waist circumference is the distance around your body measured at its narrowest point, roughly between the lowest rib and the top of the hip bone. It's used as a quick, indirect estimate of how much fat sits in the abdominal cavity — fat that tends to be more metabolically active, and riskier, than fat stored elsewhere, such as the thighs.
The appeal is obvious: anyone can measure it in seconds with a tape measure, no equipment and no cost involved. That's exactly why it works as a fast screening tool inside a routine GP visit.
The limitation is just as obvious. Waist circumference can't tell you how much of that number is subcutaneous fat versus visceral fat wrapped around your organs — and that split is often what matters most for risk. It's also skewed by height, rib-cage shape, and how developed someone's abdominal muscles are. Two people with an identical waist measurement can carry very different metabolic risk.
InBody analysis is a bioimpedance measurement that splits the body into segments — trunk, arms, legs — and estimates fat and muscle mass separately in each one. Instead of a single number at the waist, you get a map of exactly where fat and muscle sit in your body.
Visceral fat is also estimated on InBody as its own value, not just inferred from waist size. That's the key difference: waist circumference is an indirect approximation, while the InBody visceral fat reading is a dedicated, orientation-level estimate of fat stored around the organs — one you can track over time.
In practice, that means two people with the same 95 cm waist can have completely different stories. One might carry a lot of muscle mass and relatively low fat — a broad-chested, muscular build. The other might have lower muscle mass and a higher fat share at the same waist size — sometimes described as 'skinny fat'. Waist circumference alone can't tell these two apart; segmental analysis can.
| Area | Waist circumference | InBody |
|---|---|---|
| What it measures | A single number – waist size | Fat and muscle mass by body segment |
| Distinguishes subcutaneous vs. visceral fat | No | Yes, visceral fat is estimated separately |
| Distinguishes fat from muscle | No | Yes |
| Typical frequency | Usually at a preventive checkup, roughly every 2 years | As needed, typically every few months |
| Replaces a doctor? | No, it's part of a medical checkup | No, it's a supplementary orientation-level measurement |
A funded preventive checkup once every two years gives you essentially two data points — where you are now, and where you'll be in two years. That's not enough to judge a trend: a lot can change between those two points, and a lot can also be turned around.
InBody, Max Pulse, or a blood-pressure monitor at shorter, regular intervals — roughly every few months — fill in the curve between those two points. The point isn't to replace your doctor; it's to have more data for yourself, to see whether waist size or visceral fat is shifting, and how it responds to activity, diet, or a change in routine.
What's worth watching is mainly the trend, not a single isolated number — how visceral fat, muscle mass, blood pressure, or HRV move over time. Any one reading can be skewed by a meal, a bad night's sleep, or hydration; only a series of readings shows where things are actually heading.
A larger-than-recommended waist circumference, a higher visceral fat reading on InBody, or a borderline blood-pressure value aren't a diagnosis. They're a signal that the result is worth watching more closely and discussing in a broader context — alongside other values and with a professional.
If an expanded preventive checkup turns up an elevated waist measurement together with other flagged values — say, a lipid panel or glucose reading outside the usual range — that's worth discussing with your GP, not interpreting on your own at home. Your doctor has context a single number can't provide.
InBody and Max Pulse can help in a different way: they show you where exactly the fat sits, how your muscle mass compares, and how the picture changes over time — useful input for a conversation with your doctor. They don't replace lab work, an ECG, or a clinical exam; that's always the domain of medical care, not an orientation-level measurement.
The two roles are clearly separate. A GP preventive checkup is mandatory, funded by public health insurance, and includes lab work, an ECG, and a clinical exam that no consumer device can replace. InBody, Max Pulse, or a blood-pressure reading through the MojeInBody portal are supplementary, private measurements you can repeat as often as you want.
In practice, the combination works best this way: complete your funded checkup on the schedule your GP recommends, and between visits, track the trend on your InBody portal — waist-adjacent measures like visceral fat, along with muscle mass and other indicators, all in one place, with a history you can compare at any time.
If you want a clearer picture of where you actually stand — not just one number at the waist — an InBody 970 measurement gives you a more detailed baseline to work with between doctor visits.
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FAQ
From 1 January 2026, an amendment to the preventive-checkup regulation broadens what GP checkups cover — including wider lab work, an ECG at your first checkup with a new GP, and a recommendation to track waist circumference. The exact content of your specific checkup can vary, so confirm details with your GP or insurer.
Waist circumference is a simple, low-cost marker of abdominal fat, which is consistently linked to higher cardiovascular and metabolic risk. It can be measured in seconds without any equipment, which is exactly why it works as a screening tool in a routine visit.
No. InBody, Max Pulse, and blood-pressure readings don't replace a medical exam, an ECG, or lab tests — they're orientation-level, supplementary measurements that make sense between funded checkups, not instead of them.
Risk generally rises as waist circumference increases, but the exact thresholds vary between sources and populations and depend on other factors like height and sex. Interpreting your specific number is a job for your doctor, ideally alongside the rest of your checkup results.
A GP preventive checkup typically happens once every two years, with more emphasis for certain groups managing chronic conditions. InBody measurements can be repeated much more often — every few months, for example — so you can track a trend between doctor visits instead of just two isolated numbers.
Sources
From 2026, the GP preventive checkup tracks more than before, waist circumference included — but it's still just two data points, two years apart. InBody measurements through the MojeInBody portal give you a more detailed, more frequent picture in between: how much of your weight is fat, how much is muscle, and where exactly the fat sits. Book a measurement and follow the trend, not just one number.