Fitness is less belly fat at any weight

"Fat and fit" men are likely to have a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes because they're relatively trim around the waist, a new study shows.

The higher a man's cardiorespiratory fitness, the less fat he has in his abdominal cavity, Dr Jean-Pierre Despres of Hopital Laval Research Centre in Quebec and colleagues found. The relationship held true regardless of body mass index (BMI), a ratio of weight to height typically used to gauge overweight and obesity.

"This is why it's so, so important for the doctor to measure waist circumference," said Despres, who told Reuters he wants family doctors to check their patients' waist size and triglyceride levels.

High waist circumference combined with high triglyceride levels signal a substantially increased risk of heart disease and diabetes, he explained.

Evidence shows fit people are at reduced risk of heart disease, even though they may be overweight or even obese based on their BMI, Despres and his team note in the Archives of Internal Medicine. At the same time, people of normal weight with bulging bellies risk heart disease.