Are you lean-fat? Why having a low body-mass index may not mean you’re more healthy or less at risk of heart failure

A study shows Asian people who have a low BMI but accumulated fat around their midriff are more likely to suffer heart failure than obese people without a bulge

Researchers say governments should work on developing clear policies to prevent abdominal obesity

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“Lean-fat” Asian people who have a low body-mass index but are wide around the middle are more at risk of hospital admission, or death, due to heart failure than obese people without a tummy bulge, a study has found. Photo: Alamy

Published: 6:00pm, 19 Nov 2019Updated: 6:25pm, 19 Nov 2019

“Lean-fat” people in Asia – those who have a low body-mass index (BMI) but are wide around the middle – are at a higher risk of hospital admission for heart failure, and of death, than so-called obese-thin people, a study of 6,000 heart failure patients in 11 Asian regions has found.

These patients are also more likely to be women, have diabetes and be from low-income countries.

Researchers took data from patients in China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan), India, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan and South Korea, in the first study of its kind.

Writing in the medical journal PLOS Medicine, the authors say governments must develop clear national policies to prevent abdominal obesity and promote a healthy BMI through “awareness, education and lifestyle modification”.

A study of 6,000 heart failure patients in 11 Asian regions found patients were more likely to be women, have diabetes and be from low income countries. Photo: Alamy

Obesity poses a major global public health challenge. It affects 650 million people worldwide and has tripled in prevalence over the last 20 years – especially among young adults in low- and middle-income countries. China has the highest obesity rate in the world, with 46 per cent of adults and 15 per cent of children being obese or overweight, according to a September report in the journal The Lancet Global Health.