Cambridge, UK - A new study has cast doubt on the widely held belief that obesity in an apple shape, with fat accumulation around the stomach area, is more damaging in terms of cardiovascular risk than other types of obesity.
The study, published online in the Lancet on March 11, 2011, was conducted by the international group known as the Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration.
Coauthor Dr Emanuele Di Angelantonio (University of Cambridge, UK) commented to heartwire: "It has been thought that central adiposity (apple shape) is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease than other types of obesity, but we have shown in our study that any one of three measures of obesity are equally associated with heart disease. So being an apple is no worse than being a pear. Both are bad."
Being an apple is no worse than being a pear. Both are bad.
Di Angelantonio claims the current study is more reliable than previous ones because it is prospective in design and therefore less liable to be affected by bias. "We followed 220 000 individuals for 10 years in a prospective fashion with measures of obesity recorded at baseline. The previous studies have mainly been of a case-control design, where they worked backward from the event. These are not nearly so accurate in estimating risk of particular factors."
He added: "We are not saying that visceral obesity is not important. All types of obesity are important, as they are all linked to cardiovascular disease. But what we are saying is that the apple shape is no riskier than other shapes, which is a big difference from previous opinion."
