🛒 Pulse Oximeter - Monitor blood oxygen levels instantly Shop on Amazon →

Belly Fat Linked To Heart Failure Risk

Follow Drugslib on

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 18, 2026.

via HealthDay

WEDNESDAY, March 18, 2026 — Want to figure out your heart health risk?

Look at your belly fat, not your body mass index, a new study says.

Excess fat stored around the waist is more strongly associated with heart failure risk than BMI, an estimate of body fat based on height and weight, researchers will report at a meeting of the American Heart Association.

“This research helps us understand why some people develop heart failure despite having a body weight that seems healthy,” lead researcher Szu-Han Chen, a medical student at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, said in a news release.

“By monitoring waist size and inflammation, clinicians may be able to identify people with higher risk earlier and focus on prevention strategies that could reduce the chance of heart failure before symptoms begin,” Chen said.

For the new study, researchers tracked nearly 2,000 Black adults from an ongoing study of heart disease in Jackson, Mississippi. During follow up of nearly seven years, 112 people developed heart failure.

Results showed that measurements of excess belly fat were associated with higher heart failure risk, but high BMI was not.

Specifically, larger waist circumference increased heart failure risk by 31%, and higher waist-to-height ratio increased risk by 27%, the study says.

Researchers also found that inflammation explains a quarter to a third of the link between excess belly fat and heart failure.

“This study highlights the importance of integrating measures of central adiposity such as waist circumference into routine preventive care," said Dr. Sadiya Khan, a professor of cardiovascular epidemiology at Northwestern University in Chicago, who reviewed the findings.

"Understanding upstream drivers of heart failure risk including central adiposity is key to recognizing and modifying risk," she added in a news release.

Researchers said future study should look into how belly fat and inflammation influence heart failure, and whether reducing inflammation might help prevent the condition.

Researchers are scheduled to present their findings Thursday at an American Heart Association meeting in Boston.

Findings presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Sources

  • American Heart Association, news release, March 18, 2026

    • Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

    Source: HealthDay

    Recommended Health Products
    Blood Pressure Monitor
    Heart Health Blood Pressure Monitor Accurate digital BP monitoring at home View on Amazon →
    Medication Log Book
    Health Tracking Medication Log Book Track your medications and health records View on Amazon →
    As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

    Posted : 2026-03-19 01:54

    Read more

    Disclaimer

    Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Drugslib.com is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Drugslib.com information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Drugslib.com does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Drugslib.com's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Drugslib.com's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners.

    The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Drugslib.com does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Drugslib.com provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

    Popular Keywords