Pot Belly Risks

Even a little pot-belly increases heart risk: study

Sporting a pot-belly, that little pouch of abdominal fat that hangs down over your pants or bathing suit? You may be at an increased risk of heart disease, U.S. researchers say.

A new study indicates that having a high waist-to-hip ratio, measured by a tape measure, can indicate you're more susceptible to heart disease. And even a little pot-belly can raise the odds.

"Your chances of having buildup of plaque in the arteries of the heart or the arteries of the aorta go up with even a few inches," James deLemos, one of the study's researchers and the director of the Coronary Care unit at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, told CBCNews.ca.

The study appears in the Aug. 21 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Source: CBC.ca