Obesity and heart disease

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Tuesday, April 06, 2004 7:29 am Email this article
THE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE is minimized when subscapular skinfold thickness (measured vertically just below the shoulder blade) is less than 12 mm in men and 15 mm in women.

The optimum weight for minimizing risk corresponds to a body mass index (BMI) of 22.6 for men and 22.1 for women.

This equates to 166 lbs for a 6 ft man and 122 lbs for a 5 ft 4 in woman.

BMI can be calculated by multiplying weight (lbs) by 706 and dividing by height (inches) squared.

REFERENCE

Kannel WB, D’Agostino RB, Cobb JL. Effect of weight on cardiovascular disease. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Mar 1996, 63(3 Suppl):419S-22S.

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