Patterns: For Heart Risk, No Telltale Body Shape

A major new analysis challenges the long-held idea that obese people who carry their extra weight mainly around the middle — those with an “apple” shape — are at greater risk for heart disease than “pears,” whose fat tends to cluster on their thighs and buttocks. The new report, published online on Friday in The Lancet, pooled data from 58 studies about more than 220,000 people, with a mean age of 58. During the time they were followed, more than 14,000 suffered a heart attack or stroke. http://nyti.ms/fpZsSG