Waist-to-Hip Better Predictor Than Obesity

A larger waist-to-hip ratio may predict future heart disease better than body mass index, U.S. researchers found.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said that people who develop fat around their middle have more atherosclerotic plaque than those who have smaller waist-to-hip ratios.

Senior author Dr. James De Lemos said the risk was the same for both men and women who develop abdominal fat.

Nearly 3,000 individuals aged 18 to 65 participated in the study and they received a total of three medical visits each, which included an in-home health survey, blood and urine collection and a detailed clinical exam complete with abdominal magnetic resonance imaging and coronary artery calcium scans.

Calcium was more likely to be found in the arteries of patients with the greatest waist-to-hip ratio and those with the largest waist-to-hip ratio had a twofold increase in the incidence of calcium deposits — a strong indicator of future cardiovascular issues including heart attacks, reported the study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.