Belly Fat Tied to Raised Heart and Cancer Risks
Carrying too much fat around the abdomen puts people at greater risk for heart disease and cancer compared with people who have a similar body mass index (BMI) but who carry their fat in other parts of the body.
So says a US study published online in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Previous studies have shown that the risk of disease and death linked to obesity or being overweight varies among individuals with the same BMI (body mass index – the ratio of their weight in kilos to their height in metres squared).
Now a new study suggests ectopic fat – that is, fat present where it shouldn’t be, in this case the highly visible spare tyre(s) around the middle – might explain this variation.
We already know that carrying excess fat around the waist can be more dangerous than carrying it elsewhere, such as the hips or the thighs (apple-shaped as opposed to pear-shaped).
But this latest study, from lead author Kathryn A. Britton, instructor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues, is the first to use CT scans to see which specific deposits of excess fat are linked to disease risk.