In comparison to people being obese or having a pear shaped body, those who have belly fat are at increased of mortality. Study researchers have termed belly fat to be dangerous as it carries visceral fat that is present deep inside abdomen and leads to other health problems.

David L. Katz from Yale University School of Medicine said, “As much as half of the overall population has too much visceral fat, though many don’t know it. That’s because you don’t have to be overweight to have excess visceral fat”.

Samuel Klein, Director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, has affirmed that fat around the midsection increases the risk of disease like coronary, type-2-diabetes, and some types of cancer.

Dr. Marie Savard, an ABC News medical contributor, has affirmed that passive fat may help in reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Fat deposited around hips are said to increase good HDL cholesterol.

Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez from the Mayo Clinic and his team have assessed data from Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. In the survey, there were people having different BMI and waist-to-hip ratios were also assessed to know mortality risk.

It was found that people who have mid-body fat were more likely to face increased mortality risk than others. Those having normal weight but central obesity had two times the mortality rate than those who were obese. Active lifestyle can help people getting rid of central obesity.