Pot belly is key indicator.

• Position: Cardiovascular Risk - Brief article

A tape measure, not just a bathroom scale, may help better assess heart disease risk, indicate researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, who found that people with a larger waist-to-hip ratio may be at increased risk for heart disease. The research evaluates the association between different measures of obesity and the prevalence of arterial disease.

"Our study shows that people who develop fat around the middle have more atherosclerotic plaque than those who have smaller waist-to-hip ratios," declares James de Lemos, associate professor of internal medicine. "The risk was the same for both men and women who develop abdominal fat."

Prior studies examining the association between obesity and cardiovascular risk reported varied results for overweight subjects who eventually had clinical cardiovascular events. The patients often were...