Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Women with bigger waists relative to their hips face a proportionately greater risk of experiencing a heart attack than men who have a similar ‘apple shape’, new research from The George Institute for Global Health at the University of Oxford has found.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

The study, of nearly 500,000 people who provided data to the UK Biobank, suggests that in both sexes, the waist-to-hip ratio is a better predictor of heart attacks than general obesity, as measured by weight relative to body size using the body mass index (BMI). However, the research suggests women with an ‘apple shape’ are particularly at risk.

Find out more (University of Oxford website)

Similar stories

New heart disease calculator could save lives by identifying high-risk patients missed by current tools

Collaborative research, led by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences (NDPCHS) and published today in Nature Medicine, has developed a new tool called QR4 that more accurately predicts an individual's 10-year risk of cardiovascular diseases, like heart disease and stroke, particularly identifying high-risk patients that current prediction tools miss.