Study of nearly 300,000 people challenges the ’obesity paradox’
The idea that it might be possible to be overweight or obese but not at increased risk of heart disease, otherwise known as the "obesity paradox", has been challenged by a study of nearly 300,000 people published in in the European Heart Journal . This latest research shows that the risk of heart and blood vessel problems, such as heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure, increases as body mass index (BMI) increases beyond a BMI of 22-23 kg/m2. Furthermore, the risk also increases steadily the more fat a person carries around their waist. The study was conducted in 296,535 adults of white European descent who are taking part in the UK Biobank study, and who were healthy at the time they enrolled with the study. UK Biobank recruited from 2006 to 2010, and follow-up data on participants were available up to 2015 for this latest analysis. Researchers at the University of Glasgow led by Dr Stamatina Iliodromiti, a clinical lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology and MRC Fellow, found that people with a BMI between 22-23 kg/m2 had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). As BMI increased above 22 kg/m2, the risk of CVD increased by 13% for every 5.2 kg/m2 increase in women and 4.3 kg/m2 in men.
