Pot Bellies Point to Heart Risk

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"It's not rocket science," he added. "It's the kind of thing you work on by incorporating regular routine exercise into everyday living. Nothing heroic, mind you. Just some exercise. And by developing good eating habits. And most of that revolves around moderation. It's not about crash diets. It's about learning portion control. So the best thing we can do is unlearn everything our parents taught us. Meaning, we should definitely not finish everything on our plate."

Cardiologist Dr. Curtis M. Rimmerman is medical director of the Westlake, Lakewood, and Avon Pointe branches of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He described Lemos' work as a "start in the right direction" toward refining heart disease screening methods.

"I wouldn't say this finding is surprising," Rimmerman noted. "But it is certainly a reasonable assertion to suggest, given limited health care resources, that health care advisors focus on central-weight distribution rather than weight alone as a more precise way to identify at-risk patients in need of aggressive treatment and follow-up. In that sense, this is a valuable step forward."

More information

For more on weight management and heart disease, visit the American Heart Association.