Even A Little Fat In Certain Places May Be Risky

Millions of Americans fighting to lose weight might hope to lose fat in all the right places.

Although health and fitness experts say people cannot target weight loss, researchers have linked the distribution of body fat in older men and women with metabolic syndrome, a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. The researchers said their findings even apply to normal-weight people.

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The study appears in this week's issue of Archives of Internal Medicine .

Metabolic syndrome is a disorder that includes elevated blood cholesterol levels, insulin resistance and high blood pressure. It affects 22 percent of American adults and 42 percent of older men and women, according to the article.

In addition to overweight and obesity issues, patterns of fat distribution in middle-aged adults might suggest more risk for metabolic syndrome, but researchers don't know whether that applies to older people.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center examined more than 3,000 men and women ages 70 to 79. They identified metabolic syndrome in the patients who met at least three criteria, including:

• A waist wider than about 40.2 inches in men or 34.7 inches in women
• Elevated blood triglyceride levels
• Low high-density lipoprotein -- HDL, or "good" -- cholesterol levels
• High blood pressure, treated or untreated
• Elevated blood sugar level, treated or untreated

The researchers classified people in normal weight, overweight or obese groups, based on the person's body mass index.

They associated visceral fat -- which is found in the deeper tissues and around the body's organs rather than just under the skin -- with metabolic syndrome in older men and women, whether they were normal weight, overweight or obese.

Researchers linked abdominal fat to metabolic syndrome only in normal-weight men, and intermuscular fat to the syndrome in normal and overweight men.

The authors said it was surprising that thigh fat was not linked to metabolic syndrome in obese men and women. They said having more of this type of fat made participants less likely to have metabolic syndrome.

The researchers concluded that excess fat around the abdominal organs or muscle fat is linked to a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in older adults, particularly in those who are of normal body weight.

They believe that doctors should not ignore the risk of metabolic syndrome in their older people based on BMI.