You can have heart problems when you are not over weight

Everyone knows that being over weight can lead to heart problems. But did you know that even if you are not over weight, you can still have heart problems?

This is according to a latest finding which tracked the health of 21,094 male doctors for 2 decades. It confirmed that even those who were only moderately overweight had a higher risk.

In men who are 1.8m tall, for every 3.2 kg of excess body weight, their risk of heart failure rose on average by 11% over the next 2 years. This is reported in the journal, Circulation, by Reuters.

The average age of the men at the outset of the Physicians' Health Studies was 53. During the study, 1109 of them developed heart failure.

Overall the risk of heart failure increased by 180% in men who met the definition of obesity according to their body mass index (BMI of 30 and higher) and by 49 % in men who met the definition of overweight (a BMI of 25-30)

So if you are even slightly over weight, you might want to change your diet and maintain a optimal weight. Eating more meals with smaller portions will help. If you are grossly over weight, change diet, exercise and if necessary get professional help.