Abdominal obesity is excess fat around the waist. It has been found to be an even more important risk factor of coronary heart disease (CHD) than overall obesity or what is known as generally overweight. This was the finding of a Finnish study aimed to find out the associations of abdominal obesity and overall obesity with acute coronary events.
Body mass index indicating overall obesity while waist-to-hip ratio (calculated as the ratio of the circumference of the waist to the hip) and waist circumference indicating abdominal obesity. These were measured for 1346 middle-age male participants, and 123 acute coronary events were noted during an average follow-up of 10.6 years.
The study found that increased waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference and body mass index were all associated with an increased risk of acute coronary events such as heart attack. Although blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol could partly explain the relationships, the link between waist-to-hip ratio and CHD remained significant.
It was concluded that since men who were physical inactive and smoked tended to have a high waist-to-hip ratio, lifestyle changes should be encouraged because it has a overall beneficial effect.
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