Women wanted for study

Apr 8 2004

By Louise Redvers, The Evening Chronicle

We all know being overweight is bad for us, but now scientists say it might not be how fat we are - but where we are fat that is the danger. Obesity is a growing problem, literally, and in the North East 29% men and 20% of women are obese, putting themselves at serious risk of strokes, heart disease and diabetes. Doctors and Government ministers are calling for radical measures to curb our expanding waistlines, like putting warnings on fatty foods and banning advertising sweets to children. But scientists at Newcastle University are carrying out trials on women in the region to look into the possibility that you can still be healthy if you're overweight, it just depends where you're carrying that excess flab. Story continues ADVERTISEMENT "It all goes back to the apple and pear analysis," explained Louise Hayes (pictured), who is leading the research from the paediatric and lifecourse epidemiology research group based at Newcastle's RVI. "There's already evidence to show that fat stored around the stomach area is more likely to be the sort of fat that's deep down in the body, as opposed to the fat that's stored under the surface. "The different types of fat that people have might be a factor into why they get complications like diabetes and heart disease." Louise and her team have been assessing overweight women aged between 25 and 65 to see how their excess weight has affected their health. The women have had MRI scans to get a detailed picture of the way their body fat is stored. "It is well known that, on average, the risk of diabetes and heart disease is higher in people who are overweight," she explained. "It is thought that the reason why people who are overweight are at greater risk is because they usually also have abnormalities like fat in the blood, high blood pressure and high blood glucose levels. "But previous research has shown a substantial number of people who are overweight do not have any of the other features of the metabolic syndrome because of things like family history or the way fat is distributed." Louise still needs volunteers to take part in her study. She's looking for women aged between 25 and 64 years, and with a body mass index of at least 35 - that is their weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in metres. They have already recruited enough volunteers with normal lipids, glucose and blood pressure, but need another eight volunteers with high cholesterol to complete the study. If you are interested in taking part in the study, contact Louise on (0191) 202 3021.

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