The Figure Of A Woman Shows The Degree Of Risk Of Developing A Heart Attack And Stroke

The figure of a woman shows the degree of risk of developing a heart attack and stroke

Older women with relatively more belly fat have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to women who have more thigh fat. This is evidenced by the results of a study published in the European Heart Journal.

Vincent Van Gogh, Female Torso, 1887. Photo: Wikimedia Commons /

Older women with relatively more belly fat have a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to women who have more thigh fat. This is evidenced by the results of a study published in the European Heart Journal.

After menopause, a pear-shaped figure may be associated with fewer health risks than an apple-shaped figure. Even women with normal body mass index (BMI) have different distribution of fat. Apple-shaped women have more fat around the waist, while those with a pear-shaped figure have more fat around the hips and legs.

Scientists studied data from 2683 postmenopausal women with normal BMI, observing them for an average of 18 years. 291 of them developed cardiovascular diseases during this period. After adjusting for a number of factors, the researchers found that neither body fat mass nor body fat percentage alone were associated with cardiovascular risk.

But those women with the most fat distributed around the waist had a 91% higher risk of coronary heart disease or stroke than those with the least fat in that area. And those with the most fat in the thigh area had a 32% lower risk of developing these conditions, compared to those with the least fat in that area.

Women who had a higher percentage of waist fat and a lower percentage of hip fat had more than three times the risk of developing CVD compared to women who had the most fat in the hips and the least in the waist area.

“Unfortunately, we don't know how you can transfer fat from your belly to your legs. It depends on genetics. Exercise will help you lose weight, but we don't know which exercise can move body fat,”says study lead author Qibin Qi of New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine.