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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 People with none or one abnormality were considered metabolically healthy, while those with two or more abnormalities were metabolically abnormal.
"Among U.S. adults 20 years and older, 23.5 percent (approximately 16.3 million adults) of normal-weight adults were metabolically abnormal, whereas 51.3 percent (approximately 35.9 million adults) of overweight adults and 31.7 percent (approximately 19.5 million adults) of obese adults were metabolically healthy," wrote Rachel P. Wildman, of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and colleagues.
Normal-weight adults with metabolic abnormalities tended to be older, less physically active, and have larger waists than healthy normal-weight adults, the study said. Obese people with no metabolic abnormalities were more likely to be younger, black, more physically active and have smaller waists than those with metabolic risk factors.
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"These data show that a considerable proportion of overweight and obese U.S. adults are metabolically healthy, whereas a considerable proportion of normal-weight adults express a clustering of cardiometabolic abnormalities," the researchers concluded. "Further studies into the behavioral, hormonal or biochemical and genetic mechanisms underlying these differential metabolic responses to body size are needed and will likely further the identification of possible obesity intervention targets and improve cardiovascular disease screening tools."
"Both reports emphasize the benign nature of fat accumulation outside the abdomen," Dr. Lewis Landsberg, of the Northwestern University Comprehensive Center on Obesity in Chicago, wrote in an accompanying editorial.
"In both studies, the detrimental effect of visceral fat accumulation and its surrogate, waist circumference, were clearly demonstrated, confirming older studies showing that waist circumference is a risk factor even in normal-weight individuals," he said.
The studies show it's important to calculate body mass index and measure waist circumference when assessing cardiovascular risk in overweight and obese patients, Landsberg noted.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about heart disease risk factors.
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-- Robert Preidt
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