Nov 15, 2008
Belly Fat Doubles Death Risk
Increased Risk Not Limited to Those Considered Obese, Long-Term European Study Finds
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Researchers in Europe found that excess fat around the belly is more dangerous than fat elsewhere on the body, and doubles the risk of premature death, even for people who are not considered obese. (CBS)
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Video Big Bellies Linked To Death A new study shows belly fat is different from other fat, and doubles the risk of premature death. Harry Smith talks to Dr. Holly Phillips about the findings.
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Interactive Heart Disease Learn more about different types of heart disease, explore different treatments and assess your own risk.
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Interactive Heart Disease In The U.S. A look at state-by-state estimates of the prevalence of heart disease.
Researchers followed about 360,000 Europeans enrolled in one of the largest and longest health studies in the world.
They found that people with the most belly fat had about double the risk of dying prematurely of the people with the least amount of belly fat. Death risk increased with waist circumference, whether the participants were overweight or not.
The study provides some of the strongest evidence yet linking belly fat to early death, says lead author Tobias Pischon, MD, MPH. It appears in the Nov. 12 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
"Our study shows that accumulating excess fat around your middle can put your health at risk even if your weight is normal," Pischon says. "There aren't many simple individual characteristics that can increase a person's risk of premature death to this extent, independent of smoking and drinking."
Belly Fat Research
It has long been recognized that people who carry their excess weight around their middles - those who are apple-shaped instead of pear-shaped - have a higher risk for heart attacks and strokes.
Recent research also suggests a link between belly fat and a range of other diseases, including diabetes, some cancers, and even age-related dementias.
But it has not been clear whether the increase in death risk associated with abdominal obesity occurs independently of recognized risk factors like general obesity, Pischon says.
The researchers used two measures of abdominal obesity - waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio - in their attempt to better understand the role of belly fat in early death.
They examined data on 359,387 European adults followed for nearly 10 years who were enrolled in the larger, ongoing European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) health study.
During the follow-up period, 14,723 of the study participants died.
After adjusting for overweight and obesity, as measured by body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-to-hip measurements were both independently associated with an increased risk for early death.
Specifically:
women).
"The most important result of our study is the finding that not just being overweight, but also the distribution of body fat, affects the risk of premature death," Pischon says.
The findings come as no surprise to University of Michigan cardiologist and
research scientist Daniel Eitzman, MD.
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Work by Eitzman and colleagues in mice found that belly fat - also known as visceral fat - produces more inflammation than fat found in other areas of the body. There aren't many simple individual characteristics that can increase a person's risk of premature death to this extent, independent of smoking and drinking.
Tobias Pischon, study authorInflammation is thought to play a key role in heart disease and a host of other chronic diseases.
Eitzman tells WebMD that measurement of waist circumference or waist-to-hip ratio are important for assessing the risk of inflammation-driven disease.
"Studies like this focus attention on the importance of measuring visceral fat, which is not now routinely done in clinical practice," he says.
Are You an Apple or a Pear?
So how do you tell if you have more belly fat than is healthy?
By Salynn Boyles
Reviewed by Elizabeth Klodas
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
Add a Comment See all 24 Comments
- well the positive news is that cheney and karl rove won''t be around for long.
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- ok whats next, bailing out all the bad pizza franchises?
Posted by spaceatoms at 12:29 PM : Nov 16, 2008
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And McDonalds too -- that''s the same successful McDonalds that got $1.5 million in government subsidy (welfare) to go peddle Chicken McNuggets in the country of Turkey... - Reply to this comment
- just goes to show how excessive we are and will remain till we die!
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- "I am going to live forever, even if it kills me" - Groucho Marx
"I don''t mind the idea of death, I just don''t want to be there when it happens" - Woody Allen
"Luckily, death is one those things that is done just as easily laying down" - Woody Allen - Reply to this comment
- I do everthing I can to make sure I''''m healthy when I die.
Posted by airboatboy1 at 04:32 AM : Nov 16, 2008
I was always told that living would be the death of me, and that there as no way I was getting out of this life, alive........ - Reply to this comment
- either that is the lamest belly punch ever or...
it''s a bear convention. - Reply to this comment
- what is up with that picture?
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- Wish I had the money that they used on this study...
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- It''s like the dude who invented the Atkins diet. He spent his whole life being healthy, and then one day he slips on some ice, smacks his head and croaks.
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- I don''''t see a lot of joggers living to 150 yrs old.
Posted by thisandthat1 at 11:05 PM : Nov 15, 2008
You also don''t see many obese geriatrics...... - Reply to this comment
- I wish they would look at percent body fat in all these studies. The waist size and waist to hip ratio is a bunch of ***, totally worthless... It does take muscle into account. According to all these studies, the 5''6 foot 100 pound wimps are gonna live forever. They all just wish they were dead because they are have to be wheeled around because they have no muscle mass.
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- I do everthing I can to make sure I''m healthy when I die.
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- Guess what. You are going to die. No matter what you do or dont do you are going to die. Eat deep fried bacon and banana sandwiches and you are going to die. Don''t eat deep fried bacon and banana sandwiches and you are going to die. I know fat people that are miserable and I know fat people who are happy. I know skinny people who are happy and I know skinny people who are miserable. but you know what? They are going to die. You know when I was a kid there were studies that said if you ate butter you were at risk of dying. The studies suggested butter substitutes. Then everyone started eating margarine. Guess what? The butter substitutes kill you. Remember red M&M''s? They were gone. Why? Because they killed you. Now they are back. Why? You are still going to die. Studies prove nothing. Studies are often biased anyway. They never tell you that do they? It''s all guess work and fear mongering. What goes on in your head has a far greater impact on your head then what goes in your mouth. But at the end of the day you are still going to die. 100 years after you are dead not only will no one remember you no one will care. Have a nice day.
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- "Our study shows that accumulating excess fat around your middle can put your health at risk even if your weight is normal," Pischon says."
How do they know some of these obese people aren''t overwieght because of heart sickness or something else that causes both heart disease and obesity? Seeems to me like they ought to reduce their blinders just a little.
Still, vegetables and fruit can go a long way in helping your body get all the chemistry it needs. Exercise your body and your brain, and don''t get hit by a bus, and chances are you''ll live a healthy long life. Could I get a couple million $$$ to study the already known and obvious too? - Reply to this comment
- thisandthat, you couldn''t be more wrong
A recent Stanford study found that people who engage in aerobic exercise in middle age and later live longer and have healthier lives. It looked at 539 regular runners. They were compared to a control group of 423 people that never ran. All in the study were over 50. Researchers checked in at eight, 13 and again at the 21-year mark.
Exercisers had improved aerobic capacity, better cardiovascular fitness, increased bone density, fewer inflammatory markers, fewer disabilities, improved thinking, learning and memory, longer life - by year 19 of the study, 15% of runners had died, 34% of non-runners. 21 years into the study, the running group reported one disability on average, while never-runners had two disabilities on average and they were more likely to impact daily functioning.
People in their 70s and 80s who exercised continued to show improved health benefits, even when they just turned to walking. Even into their 90s, the runners versus the non-runners continued to show different rates of health. The study did not find any negative impact on joints among runners compared to the more sedentary types, even after looking at x-rays and arthritis rates.
Vigorous and consistent exercise has also been linked to less brain shrinkage in people with symptoms of Alzheimer''s. Also, delayed onset of Parkinson''s and other age-related issues. - Reply to this comment
- I don''t see a lot of joggers living to 150 yrs old. Joggers and non-joggers die at about the same age. The big difference is that the joggers are going to be a lot more tired when they die.
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- Apple-shaped compared to pear-shaped? Sorry, apple-shaped brings to mind a broad chest and tight butt -- as in a fit guy or gal -- especially compared to pear-shaped -- which brings to mind a big, fat butt and belly. Unless we can think of a fruit analogy that is broad and flat, I suggest we dispense with the food analogies.
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- Apple-shaped compared to pear-shaped? Sorry, apple-shaped brings to mind a broad chest and tight butt -- as in a fit guy or gal -- especially compared to pear-shaped -- which brings to mind a big, fat butt and belly. Unless we can think of a fruit analogy that is broad and flat, I suggest we dispense with the food analogies.
- Reply to this comment
- Apple-shaped compared to pear-shaped? Sorry, apple-shaped brings to mind a broad chest and tight butt -- as in a fit guy or gal -- especially compared to pear-shaped -- which brings to mind a big, fat butt and belly. Unless we can think of a fruit analogy that is broad and flat, I suggest we dispense with the food analogies.
- Reply to this comment
- Apple-shaped compared to pear-shaped? Sorry, apple-shaped brings to mind a broad chest and tight butt -- as in a fit guy or gal -- especially compared to pear-shaped -- which brings to mind a big, fat butt and belly. Unless we can think of a fruit analogy that is broad and flat, I suggest we dispense with the food analogies.
- Reply to this comment
