Normal Weight Doesn't Always Equal Heal...('s involved in appetite regulation; and ...),Health

Lopez-Jimenez said the study shows that just because your weight may be normal for your size, it doesn't mean you aren't at risk for heart disease and diabetes.

"If you have a normal weight, don't feel that everything is just OK," Lopez-Jimenez said. "If you have an excess amount of fat, you might have metabolic abnormalities as well," he said.

One expert agrees that normal body weight is not synonymous with good health.

"Body weight is a very blunt instrument; it is not a reliable gauge of obesity, or health, at the individual level," said Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "For example, a muscular man may have a very high body weight, yet be perfectly fit and healthy. Many people whose body weight is in the normal range are anything but."

And some people are vulnerable to weight gain in all the wrong places, such as in and around the vital organs of the abdomen, notably the liver, Katz said.

"Even a small amount of extra fat where it matters most can wreak metabolic havoc, increasing risk for diabetes and heart disease, while leaving you with a body weight that looks perfectly innocent," Katz said. "Excess body fat in the belly is a menace, whatever your weight. This study should sensitize patients and providers alike to this concern."

More information

For more about metabolic syndrome, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

SOURCES: Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, M.D., cardiologist, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director, Prevention Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; April 1, 2008, presentation, American College of Cardiology annual meeting, Chicago
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