FORTY PERCENT OF EXECUTIVES ARE OBESE.

• Position: Obese executives risk heart disease - Brief Article

The results of a study by James Rippe, associate professor of medicine (cardiology) at Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass., and founder/director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute, suggest that the boardroom may not be the healthiest place for executives to sit. It shows that many senior executives may be living unhealthy lifestyles and flirting dangerously with heart disease.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the prevalence of obesity among adults has increased from 25 to 32% in the past 10 years. Among obese executives, 100% have at least one other risk factor for cardiovascular disease, 86% have two, and 60% have at least three other risk factors. Significantly, 55% of all heart disease occurs in individuals with at least two risk factors for this condition. The bottom line: Senior executives have a disproportionate risk of heart disease--compared with the population at large--which may be putting their companies' interests in danger as well.

"For a CEO or other senior executive, health issues have a serious impact on both personal life and the welfare of the business," Rippe points out. "The critical levels of risk factors for heart disease among senior executives affect everyone in the business world, from employees to stockholders. And because risk factors multiply each other in relation to the risk of heart disease, an overweight, inactive senior executive is something that no American company can afford."

The...