Checking a person's hip-to-waist ratio, not their body
mass index (BMI), is the best obesity measure for assessing
heart attack risk, according to an international study
in this week's issue of
The Lancet medical journal.
Canadian researchers studied more
than 27,000 people in 52 countries and concluded that
using waist-to-hip ratio instead of BMI to measure obesity
increases by three-fold the number of people considered
to have a risk of heart attack.
The researchers looked at BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and
hip measure in the study participants. Half of them had
previously had a heart attack and the other half were
age and gender-matched controls who had not had heart
attacks.
BMI, a ratio of weight to height, was only slightly higher
in the heart attack patients, compared to those in the
control group. However, heart attack patients had significantly
higher waist-to-hip ratios than the controls, irrespective
of other cardiovascular risk factors. This finding was
consistent in women and men, in all age groups, and in
all regions of the world.
The study authors concluded that compared with BMI, waist-to-hip
ratio is three times more effective in predicting heart
attack risk.
