Not Overweight and Still at Risk for Heart Disease?
Maintaining a healthy weight does not mean you are free from heart disease risk. New research indicated body fat percent plays a role.
Data published in the American Journal of Cardiology online August 29th, reviewed over 1500 older adults with a normal body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure of how your weight relates to your height. Here is a link to calculate your BMI. Researchers found one in five men and close to one in three women had unhealthy high body fat percentages. A high body fat percentage was defined as above 25 percent for men and above 35 percent for women.
The study found that women with high body fat percentages were at 57% higher risk of dying from a heart-related cause versus women with a healthy body fat. Men with excess body fat were also found to be at greater risk. Those with high levels of body fat were more likely to live with high blood pressure and metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of conditions that when they occur together they increase risk for heart disease and diabetes.
Body fat – Nature versus Nurture
I find it interesting that identical twins raised apart have similar weight gain patterns and fat deposits. If one is overweight, the other is usually overweight. This suggests that 80% of obesity is related to genetics and not eating habits.
My gut reaction is to argue this and say it provides too easy of a cop out for overweight individuals to say “it’s just my genes”. I argue that the remaining 20%, which is determined by how a child is raised, has a signficant impact on overall overweight status.
What do you think?
Additional interesting statistics:
A child with no obese parent has a 10% chance of being an obese adult.
A child with one obese parent has a 40% chance of being an obese adult.
A child with two obese parents has an 80% chance of being an obese adult.
Lisa Nelson, RD, LN
eNutritionServices
