How much does Obesity increase the Risk of Heart Disease?

Heart disease is significantly increased by obesity. Being overweight can put more strain on your heart, cause coronary artery constriction, and alter the rhythm of your heart. But some types are more prone to cardiac problems than others.

Chronic obesity can raise your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer, among other health problems.

Introduction

Obesity has been associated with an increased risk of numerous diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the prevalence of obesity has nearly doubled worldwide since 1975. It has long been known that obesity increases the risk of heart disease-causing conditions such high blood pressure and diabetes.

Recent research has shown that obesity is more than merely a “co-conspirator” in the development of heart problems. The increased body weight itself may cause damage to the heart muscles.

Obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular risk factors, including high blood pressure, lipid problems, sleep difficulties, and type 2 diabetes. Recent research shows that waist circumference, a measure of abdominal obesity, is a separate risk factor for cardiovascular disease unrelated to body mass index.

Heart disease is significantly increased by obesity. Being overweight can put more strain on your heart, cause coronary artery constriction, and alter the rhythm of your heart. However, some body types are more prone to heart disease than others. Systemic inflammation, metabolic syndrome, and blood vessels can all be improved by weight loss and lifestyle modifications.

What does obesity mean?

Among other health issues, chronic obesity can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and several types of cancer. Obesity occurs when the quantity and size of fat cells in your body are beyond the usual range. The body mass index, or BMI, is a measurement used to measure obesity.

Your body mass index, or BMI, accounts for both your height and weight. It is computed by taking the square of your height in meters and dividing it by your weight in kilograms. The risk of heart disease is elevated by obesity.

Keep in mind that BMI is merely a screening tool and does not represent body composition or any other characteristics. For instance, because muscle is heavier and denser than fat, athletes with high BMIs might nevertheless be seen as healthy due to their muscle mass.

Your waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is a better indicator of your cardiovascular disease risk than your body mass index (BMI), according to the American Diabetes Association. The estimated amount of fat accumulated around your hips and waist is determined by this measurement.

To determine your waist-to-hip ratio, all you need is a tape measure. You can easily calculate your waist circumference by dividing the measurements of the widest area of your hips and waist (just above your belly button).

Why do people get fat or gain weight?

Among the factors contributing to obesity are:

• Portions, illnesses, medications, our DNA, stress, and sleep deprivation.

We are aware that controlling your weight might be challenging. Learning about calories is a fantastic place to start. Kilocalories, sometimes referred to as calories or kcal, are a unit of measurement used to describe the energy content of food and beverages. Eating provides your body with energy (or calories), and exercising causes your body to expend calories.

Your body stores extra calories as body fat when you consume more food and liquids than you expend. You will begin to acquire weight if you consistently consume more calories than you expend. You can talk to your general practitioner if you’re worried about your weight and would like assistance in beginning to manage it.

What Negative Impact Does Obesity Have on Heart Health?

One of the main causes of heart disease risk is obesity. A study found that people with a healthy BMI were less likely to die from heart disease and have a higher likelihood of acquiring heart disease. Obesity can affect your heart in several ways. Let’s take a closer look at those effects:

Increased risk of atherosclerosis

Changes that increase insulin resistance and inflammation can result from excess body fat, particularly around the belly. Atherosclerosis may be encouraged by these two factors. Atherosclerosis thus raises the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD).

Plaque accumulation on the walls of the arteries supplying the heart causes CAD, which hinders blood flow to the heart. Coronary artery disease can lead to several illnesses, including angina and heart attacks. Cerebrovascular disease, which alters blood flow in the brain and raises the risk of stroke, is another problem that atherosclerosis may bring on.

Increased heart load

Your blood volume may increase in tandem with an increase in body fat. Consequently, pumping that blood may require more effort from your heart. The ventricles, the heart’s primary pumping chambers, may eventually undergo structural alterations as a result of the increased strain. Heart failure could eventually result from this.

Heart rhythm disturbance

Atrial fibrillation (AFib), a kind of arrhythmia linked to obesity, can cause potentially lethal blood clots. According to a study, obesity may be a contributing factor in one-fifth of all AFib occurrences. Obese people are more likely to develop AFib due to structural changes in the heart that impact the electrical signaling that regulates the pulse.

Increased risk of high blood pressure

According to a study, between 65% and 78% of cases of high blood pressure are believed to be caused by obesity. Your arteries may become stiff as a result of elevated blood pressure over time. This can cause your arteries to constrict and increase the chance of plaque accumulation, which can lead to atherosclerosis.

Additionally, high blood pressure puts more strain on your heart. The cardiac muscle may thicken as it attempts to handle the increased pressure. Heart attacks, heart failure, and coronary artery disease can all be made more likely by changes to the heart muscle and arteries.

Higher risk of heart problems associated with diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is significantly increased by obesity. Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage the blood vessels in and around your heart as well as the nerves that control it. Those with diabetes are about twice as likely to suffer from heart disease or stroke than people without the disease.

Increased risk of sleep apnea

Obesity and sleep apnea are linked. High blood pressure may become more likely as a result of the apnea.

Can I Reduce My Risk of Heart Disease by Losing Weight?

Losing weight may help lower your risk of heart disease if you are overweight or obese. Blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and inflammatory variables can all start to improve when people lose even five pounds. Your heart benefits from all of these improvements.

Both primary and secondary prevention of heart disease—that is, avoiding another heart attack or other cardiac event if you have already experienced one—are helped by losing excess weight. You will need to take medication for secondary prevention, but as you reduce weight, you may need to take less of it.

Improving your food and exercise routines to lose one pound each week are the greatest strategies to lose weight, albeit it’s not an easy task. Remember: It is safer to enroll in a medically supervised weight loss program than to attempt weight loss on your own if your BMI is in the upper range.

Stick to a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fatty fish and skinless poultry, nuts and legumes, and healthy cooking oils like sesame, olive, walnut, or grapeseed oils if you’re doing it alone. Steer clear of fried foods, overly processed foods, and added sweets. When it comes to exercise, combine weight training with aerobic activities to build muscle and reduce body fat.

There is evidence that following these actions can improve your heart health for many years to come. According to one study, even if some weight was gained again, losing weight was linked to lower risk factors for cardiovascular disease for at least five years.

Because weight loss affects triglyceride levels, insulin sensitivity, and blood pressure, it can reduce heart disease risk factors. The good news is that your daily actions can have an impact.

How can I determine whether I am obese or overweight?

To determine if you are overweight, you can use two measurements:

• BMI, or body mass index
• ratio of height to waist.

It’s beneficial to use many measurements, and you might find that doing both is manageable.

Methods for Calculating Your BMI

A metric called body mass index, or BMI, determines if your weight is appropriate for your height. To determine whether your BMI is endangering your health, you can use the BMI calculator.

If you are unable to determine your BMI at home, your general practitioner or practice nurse can assist you. You will be classified as underweight, healthy, overweight, or obese based on your BMI.

Those ranges are:

• Underweight: BMI <18.5;
• healthy weight: BMI <18.5 to 24.9;
• overweight: BMI <25 to 29.9;
• obesity class 1: BMI <30 to 34.9;
• obesity class 2: BMI <35 to 39.9; and
• obesity class 3: BMI <40.

For certain people, BMI is not always correct since it cannot distinguish between excess bone, muscle, or fat. Additionally, it ignores factors like age, gender, body form, and the fact that muscle weighs more than fat.

If you’re pregnant, muscular, athletic, or elderly and may have lost some muscle as you’ve aged, it might not be correct for you.

Your health risk may also be influenced by your ethnic heritage. For instance, persons with a BMI below 25 may be more likely to experience health issues if they are South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African, or African-Caribbean.

Consequently, the BMI classifications for these groups varied somewhat:

• overweight (BMI 23–27.4),
• obese (BMI 27.5–28 or above),
• class 2 (BMI 32.5–37.4), and
• class 3 (BMI 37.5 or higher).

This is among the factors that make using the weight-to-height ratio to calculate your health risk crucially.

How to calculate the ratio of your waist to height

It is also advised that you assess your waist-to-height ratio if your BMI is below 35. If you have extra fat around your waist, this will help you lose it. Visceral fat is the kind of fat that raises your risk of illness.

How to take a waist measurement

A tape measure should be placed around your center, just above the belly button, midway between the top of your hips and the bottom of your ribs, to determine your waist size. Having too much visceral fat is frequently indicated by a bigger waist measurement.

It’s crucial to remember that the measurement you use to buy jeans or pants will not match your waist measurement.

How to calculate your height

Since it might be challenging to measure your height accurately on your own, it might be simpler to have a medical professional perform it. They have the appropriate instrument, a stadiometer, which aids in obtaining a precise measurement.

To ensure you are getting the most accurate measurement possible while measuring your height at home, get someone to assist you.

If it’s safe to do so, start by removing your shoes and any bulky garments, like a jacket. With the back of your head, shoulders, feet, and butt lightly contacting the wall, lean against a straight wall.

If it’s comfortable, keep your feet close together and let your arms hang loosely by your sides.

Make sure you are facing forward with your head in this position. The individual taking your measurement should make sure your eyes and ears are horizontal to one another by going around your head.

They can measure your height by placing a pencil on top of your head and making a mark on the wall.

Measure from the floor to the pencil mark while holding a flexible piece of tape up against the wall.

How to figure out your ratio of waist to height

Divide your waist measurement by your height measurement to determine your waist-to-height ratio. Verify that they are in the same units.

Convert your height to inches so that your measures are in the same units, for instance, if your waist is 32 inches and your height is 5 feet 5 inches.

The ratio of your waist to height will be 32/65 = 0.49.

There are three types of waist-to-hip ratios:

• Between 0.4 to 0.49 is regarded as healthy.
• 0.5 to 0.59 is more likely to experience health issues.
• The largest risk of health issues is 0.6 or higher.

The Greatest Methods for Weight Loss

The best methods for losing weight don’t include starvation or fad diets. The secret to success is having the correct mindset and a willingness to lead a better lifestyle. To help maintain the scale’s downward trend, use these tactics.

• Be sure you’re prepared. You must have a strong desire to permanently alter your habits since losing weight over the long term is a marathon, not a sprint. Before you’re in the correct frame of mind to modify your lifestyle approach, you might need help from friends, family, or medical specialists if you’re distracted by other stresses or use food as a coping mechanism.
• Establish achievable goals. Without a sensible and doable plan, it is impossible to lose weight and keep it off.
• Adopt a healthy diet. Compared to processed foods that make people gain weight they might not be able to lose, there are countless fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other nutrient-dense foods that are delicious, fresh, and lower in calories. Eat more whole-grain bread and pasta, brown rice, and barley instead of refined grains, and try to consume at least four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit each day.
• Try to get more exercise. Making dietary changes is just half the battle to lose weight. Exercise is also necessary to keep the weight off. Adults should engage in muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week and acquire at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Discuss weight-loss drugs with your physician. Wegovy and Zepbound are two of the FDA-approved prescription medications that can aid in weight loss. See whether they would be a good fit for you.

Conclusion

In addition to cardiac problems, obesity increases the risk of diabetes and some types of cancer. Obesity has been connected with cardiac sickness, such as AFib, heart failure, and coronary artery disease.

Additionally, body shape increases the risk of heart disease, especially if there is excess fat around the waist. This is because visceral fat can make the body’s inflammation worse. Our skilled cardiologists at the Asian Heart Institute can help you understand how obesity will impact your heart health and teach you practical heart protection techniques.

FAQs

Reference

• Seladi-Schulman, J., PhD. (2022, November 9). What’s the link between obesity and heart disease? Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/heart-disease/heart-disease-and-obesity#body-shape
• Social42ce68ce. (2025, February 19). The impact of obesity on your heart & How to protect it. India’s No. 1 Heart Hospital. https://asianheartinstitute.org/blog/impact-of-obesity-on-your-heart-health/
• Colino, S. (2025, February 18). The connection between obesity and heart disease. EverydayHealth.com. https://www.everydayhealth.com/heart-disease/obesity-heart-disease-whats-connection/
• Obesity. (n.d.). British Heart Foundation. https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/obesity