Belly circumference and BMI predict cardiovascular disease

Someones belly circumference and BMI can predict their chances of developing cardiovascular diseases.

This is shown by a publication in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation, a magazine of the European Association for Cardiology.

The results come from a large study done at the RIVM in the Netherlands. The study comprised of 20.000 Dutch men and women between the age of 20 and 65 and who were tracked for 10 years. The Dutch Heart Association, the RIVM and the University of Wageningen all participated in this study.

The circumference of the belly and the BMI are measures that determine if people are overweight or obese. This research has shown that people who are overweight or obese, half of all the lethal cardiovascular disease and a quarter of all non-lethal cardiovascular disease can be attributed to their excess weight.

In people who are obese the chance of getting a lethal form of cardiovascular disease is four times greater and the chance of a non-lethal form two times greater than the chances of people who have a normal weight.

Obesity and its consequences are becoming a great problem worldwide. In Holland for example 52 percent of men and 41 percent of women are overweight.

The Dutch Heart Foundation think that doctors can play a key role when they suspect that someone has too much weight and in reducing obesity. By measuring someones belly circumference and BMI they can easily determine if someone is overweight. Subsequently they can refer people to dieticians and fitness experts to help them change their eating and exercise habits.

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