new survey from Bristol University regarding BMI

[Ianc2]

Overweight young adults could be storing up heart problems in older age, a pioneering study said today.

The Bristol university research is the first to find a “causal link” between body mass index (BMI) in otherwise healthy teenagers or twentysomethings and subsequent problems with cardiovascular health.

It used data from a ground breaking project set up in Avon in the 1990s that enrolled more than 14,000 pregnant women and has followed their health, and that of their children, since.

The study, which also involved University College London, found increased weight in young adults is likely to cause higher blood pressure and a thickening of the heart muscle, which can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke

[BobD Volunteer]

At HRC last year we were told it is important to have a BMI of less than 25 which could reduce AF frequency..

[CDreamer in reply to BobD]

I’ve still a way to go then.......... but I had a good BMI all the way through until the last 10 ten years.

[Ianc2]

I think it is more a general indication - along with waist / height measurements. Looking at the report - it is based on a large number of people studied over a long period of time and does reach a definite conclusion. I take your point regarding very fit sports people who have a very large muscle mass but it could be argued that they are the exception rather than the norm?

[CDreamer in reply to Ianc2]

See my reply above - I also think it is the age your BMI becomes high. A lifetime of your heart having to work harder is obviously going to be tougher than a couple of years,

And don’t forget that endurance atheletes have a higher than average rate of AF.

[Hidden in reply to Ianc2]

Carrying round a lot of weight all the time is surely asking your heart to do more than it wants, as is asking it to take a fit, lean frame too far and too fast.