Health Research
Feb 15 2007
Big Bellies Are Bad for the Heart
Kaiser Permanente researchers find a link between excess abdominal fat and coronary heart disease
The medical outlook on belly fat just gets worse. This time, research scientists at Kaiser Permanente have found that men and women with excess fat in the abdominal region have an increased risk of coronary heart disease.
Led by researcher Carlos Iribarren, MD, MPH, PhD, the study looked at 101,765 Kaiser Permanente Northern California adult members who received health checkups between 1965 and 1970, including a sagittal abdominal diameter measurement (the distance between the back and the middle area of the stomach). The patients were followed for 12 years.
Men in the upper 25th percentile of abdominal obesity, compared to
those in the lowest 25th percentile, were 42 percent more likely to
develop coronary heart disease. Similarly, women in the upper 25th percentile
increased their risk by 44 percent, compared to women in the lowest
25th percentile.
"The message is really obesity in the abdomen matters even more
than obesity overall," said Iribarren in a December 26, 2006, Reuters
Health article.
The dangers of belly fat go beyond heart disease. People with excess weight in the abdomen are also at higher risk for numerous other diseases, compared to those with a normal waistline, according to the medical research community, which is finding in study after study that stomach fat appears to be more dangerous than fat in other parts of the body.
For example, Kaiser Permanente researcher Rachel Whitmer, PhD, also found in a recent study that excessive belly fat in midlife increased a person's risk of dementia. "Being overweight is not only bad for your heart, it's bad for your brain," Whitmer told the LA Times in an April 26, 2006, news article.
says Iribarren: "The public health message is that, in addition to overall body fatness as measured by body weight or body mass index, patients and health professionals ought to watch those extra pounds in the belly."