Research

Hormonal

In older adults (aged 70-79), abdominal obesity (measured by waist circumference) is an independent risk factor for chronic heart failure, whereas total body mass index (BMI) is not a significant predictor when abdominal fat is accounted for.

If you are over 70, focus on your waist circumference rather than just your weight. A larger waist circumference significantly increases your risk of heart failure, even if your overall weight (BMI) is normal. Maintaining a smaller waist size is more critical for heart health than maintaining a specific total body weight.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
In a model that included waist circumference and BMI, waist circumference was associated with incident CHF (hazard ratio (HR) 5 1.27, 95% confidence interval (CI) 5 1.04–1.54 per SD increase, P 5.02), but BMI was not (HR 5 1.08, 95% CI 5 0.86–1.35).
Barbara J. Nicklas et al. · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2006

Why this rating

Large longitudinal cohort (N=2,435), rigorous adjudication of outcomes, and adjustment for multiple confounders.

Source

Abdominal Obesity Is an Independent Risk Factor for Chronic Heart Failure in Older People

Barbara J. Nicklas et al. · Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2006

DOI 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2005.00624.x

cohort · n=2435Cited 195×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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