A big belly has been always linked with increased risk for heart diseases and diabetes, but a new study showed that a fat belly also increases the risk for early death. The study was one of the largest and longest health studies in the world and tracked 360,000 Europeans. The researchers found out that the people with big bellies have a double risk of dying earlier than the ones who don’t experience this weight problem.

But it isn’t specifically a weight problem, but a waist circumference. Lead author Tobias Pischon, MD, MPH, stated that this study represents the most important evidence in the early death risk caused by belly fat. The November 12 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine will publish all the necessary information about the problem.

Pischon added that the study “shows that accumulating excess fat around your middle can put your health at risk even if your weight is normal." Excluding smoking and drinking, belly fat is the next risk of early death, he says. Previous studies showed only that the apple-shaped people experience greater risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But the new study links belly fat with some types of cancer and age-related dementia. Still, Pischon said it wasn’t clear whether belly fat is strictly connected to the weight problem of obesity. 360,000 Europeans were part of the ongoing European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition health study during a 10-year-period.

14,723 of the volunteers died during the study. 

Daniel Eitzman, MD, cardiologist and research scientist at the University of Michigan said that "studies like this focus attention on the importance of measuring visceral fat, which is not now routinely done in clinical practice."