Women With Higher Body Fat May Have Reduced Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Death

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. A new report has found that women who have higher levels of body fat have a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease death than women with less body fat.

For their study, the researchers used body composition data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and cardiovascular disease data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The data was from 11,463 participants 20 years of age and older. They were categorized as low muscle mass–low body fat, low muscle–high fat, high muscle–low fat, and high muscle–high fat.

Women who had high muscle mass and high body fat were found to have a 43% lower risk of cardiovascular disease death compared to women with low muscle mass and low body fat. Women with high muscle mass and low body fat did not have a lower risk compared to women with low muscle mass and low body fat.

Men with high muscle mass and low body fat had a 60% decreased risk of cardiovascular disease death, and men with high muscle mass and high body fat had a 26% lower risk compared to men with low muscle mass and low body fat.

The study was conducted by researchers from the University of California – Los Angeles.It was published on March 2, 2021 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.