Excess stomach weight can increase heart failure risk
New research has shown that carrying extra weight around the stomach can increase the risk of heart disease and failure by up to 15%, reports the Telegraph website.
This adds to previous research which revealed that having extra weight around the torso instead of evenly spread all over the body can increase the risk of developing diabetes.
The research looked at the height, weight and waist size of over 80,000 aged between 45 and 83. Those who had a normal BMI but also had excess weight around the stomach were almost as likely to suffer height failure than someone who’s BMI was in the overweight category.
The healthy waist size for women is up to 35 inches, and 40 inches for men. An increase of 4 inches meant that the risk of heart failure increases by 15% for women and 16% for men.