NEW YORK (WABC) -- The so called "comfort waist" is making many men uncomfortable now that they see that today's 36-inch pants are averaging a lot bigger.


Esquire Magazine discovered a secret technique used in the pants making industry called "vanity sizing," a merchandizing trick of sizes that make you feel good and want to buy the clothes. What you think your waist size is in your favorite pair of slacks, in many cases, could be a lie.

Eyewitness News bought four pairs of labeled 36-inch waist pants from different retailers and tested their measurements. Old Navy's pants measured 39 inches and H&M at 39.5 inches, while Banana Republic and The Gap both came in at 40 inches.

Esquire Magazine's own test measured H&M's size 36-inch dress pants as 37 inches, Calvin Klein's Dylan pant as 38.5 inches, and The Gap as 39 inches. The worst offender was Old Navy, coming in an entire five inches larger at 41 inches.

These waist-size-white-lies are not only misleading, but could also pose serious health risks. A report recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that men with waist sizes of 47 inches or larger have a greater risk of dying from a health related issue. So if your pants' size label is between 42-47 inches, you might want to make sure that they are not lying to you.

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This is getting downright disgusting. A man's got to have a few things he can count on; his trousers, his six-gun, his horse... When a fellow can't trust his own britches, well, it kind of shakes his faith in everything, and makes him real grumpy-like, ya know?