NEW YORK, April 22: Women with large bellies may die earlier of heart disease and cancer than other women, regardless of their weight, a large US study suggests.

The findings, reported in the medical journal Circulation, add to evidence that when it comes to health risks, overall weight is not as important as where a person carries the fat.

Past studies have found that “apple-shaped” people appear to be at particular risk of clogged arteries, high blood pressure and diabetes.

In the new study, researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard Medical School found that middle-aged and older women who were abdominally obese with a waistline of 35 inches or more were more likely than their thinner counterparts to die of heart disease or cancer during the study period.

Among the more than 44,000 US women the researchers tracked over 16 years, abdominal obesity doubled the odds of dying from heart disease or stroke, compared with women whose waistlines were smaller than 28 inches.

What’s more, the study found, the risks of a large waist were independent of a woman’s overall body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight in relation to height. In fact, even among normal-weight women, those whose waistlines spanned 35 inches or more faced a greater risk of dying from heart disease or stroke.—Reuters