A body measurement based on waist size and height was among the strongest predictors of future heart attacks in a study that followed 395,831 adults in the United Kingdom for a median of 13.3 years. The body roundness index, or BRI, performed slightly better than body mass index and four other common measures, according to findings published in the Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition and summarized by News-Medical. The edge was small, and the study cannot show that body shape itself causes heart attacks.
The question matters for ordinary checkups. Many Americans still hear about their heart risk through BMI, a number that does not distinguish muscle from belly fat. About 805,000 people in the U.S. have a heart attack each year, roughly one every 40 seconds, according to the CDC, so even modest gains in spotting risk could matter.
