Carrying a few more pounds around your middle is not necessarily a hint that you should reduce your caloric intake and increase your physical activity.

A study implies that extra abdominal fat also indicates a higher risk of heart failure.

According to researchers from Oxford University, each additional inch of waist circumference poses larger harm to cardiac health than total body weight.

The scholars analyzed data on 430,000 British citizens aged 40 to 70 who were followed for an average of thirteen years. Each additional inch of waist circumference was associated with an increased risk of cardiac events such as heart attack, stroke, and irregular heartbeat.

Those with the largest waistlines were 3.21 times more likely to be affected than those with the smallest waistlines.

However, people with the highest body mass index (BMI), which considers weight and height, were only 2.65 times more likely to suffer than those with the lowest BMI. Each additional unit of BMI increased the risk of heart failure by 9%.

During the course of the study, 8,669 new cases of heart failure occurred, with many resulting in death.

Dr. Ayodipupo Oguntade, the principal researcher, recommended measuring oneself annually to check the risk. “The quantity of fat carried around the trunk is more significant for measuring body obesity and cardiovascular risk,” he explained.

We know that the fat surrounding the organs in the belly is very active and includes a large number of pro-inflammatory substances that can lead to cardiovascular disease.

Two-thirds of Britons are overweight or obese, and heart and circulation disorders account for a quarter of all deaths in the country, claiming about 500 lives per day.

Heart failure is a chronic disorder in which the heart is unable to pump blood throughout the body, causing shortness of breath and other symptoms. It causes 100,000 hospital admissions every year in the United Kingdom.

According to Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum, a ‘healthy’ weight range is when a tape measuring half your height fits snugly around your bare waist.

At the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the findings were presented.