New research is challenging the previous medical theory that people with “apple shape” who carry more fat around the waist are at greater risk of heart attack and stroke than those with “pear shaped”, with more fat in the hip.
A study of 220,000 people confirmed to be obese, i.e. have a body mass index or BMI of 30 or more, is the major cardiac risk factor, but found that the distribution of body fat has no impact on the risk.
“Regardless of how you measure it, obesity is bad for your heart. This study suggests that waist measurement is no better than calculate BMI,” said Mike Knap ton, associate medical director of the charity British Heart Foundation (British heart), which partially funded the study.
BMI is widely used by researchers and clinicians to assess the risks of a person’s health. Is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by height in meters squared. A person who is qualified measured 1.65 inches with 68 kilos overweight when their BMI reaches 25 points and comes to obesity at 82 kilos.
According to the researchers, who published their findings in the medical journal The Lancet, previous studies have suggested that people with “central obesity”-described as “apple shape” – are at three times the risk of heart attack than those with general obesity as BMI measurement. However, other experts questioned those findings, so a large group of international scientists sought to clarify the issue.
The results of this international consortium of scientists suggest that while controlling weight and fat levels would be important to try to make people change their lifestyle, the best predictors of future cardiac risk are measurements of blood pressure cholesterol and a history of diabetes.
This new study included data on weight, hips, waist, blood pressure, cholesterol and other key points of more than 220,000 adults, which had no previous history of heart disease. They were followed for a decade.
During that period, about 14,000 suffered heart attacks or strokes (CVA).
John Danish, Cambridge University in Britain, which was one of nearly 200 scientists from 17 countries worked on the study, said the findings showed “essentially all types of obesity are equally bad” when it comes heart health.
Danish said the results should help guide medical practice worldwide, as currently the national and international guidelines offer different recommendations on the value of assessing levels of overweight in predicting future heart risk.
Obesity has become a global epidemic. Over 500 million people, or one in 10 adults worldwide, are currently considered obese, more than double than in 1980.
