Just because an overweight man can run around a baseball field or otherwise demonstrate aerobic fitness, it doesn’t mean he need not worry about the risk of cardiovascular disease, new study findings suggest.

“Despite how fit you are, being an overweight or obese man exposes you to elevated risk factors for CVD (cardiovascular disease),” study author Dr. Demetra D. Christou, of the University of Colorado at Boulder.

“Physical activity and aerobic fitness should not be viewed as an alternative to weight loss for CVD prevention; instead, physical activity/aerobic fitness should be considered as an effective partner to weight management,” the researcher added.

The findings dispute the notion that “it’s okay to be fat if you’re fit,” co-author Dr. Phillip E. Gates said Monday during a telephone briefing for journalists. “Really, that’s not the case,” he said, adding, “If you are fit, you’re better off if you’re less fat.”

The study involved 135 healthy men, ranging in age from 20 to 79. Some men, who were recruited from local running clubs, participated in vigorous endurance exercise more than five times each week. Others were either recreationally active or did not participate in any regular physical activity.

To determine whether fatness or fitness best predicted the men’s risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers measured 18 risk factors for the condition, including the men’s levels of cholesterol and blood fats called triglycerides, fasting insulin and blood pressure. The team then looked at three measurements of body fatness - the men’s total percent body fat, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference - as well as their maximal aerobic capacity based on treadmill exercises.

They found that body fatness, rather than aerobic fitness, was the most strongly and consistently associated with various factors that can predict a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease, the investigators report this week in the American Heart Association’s journal Circulation.

High levels of body fatness were found among about a third of the vigorous exercisers, the researchers note.

Still, body fatness - regardless of the measurement used - was consistently associated with the study participants’ cholesterol levels and all of the other CVD risk factors, even after the men’s fitness and age were taken into consideration.

In light of the findings, “The primary cardiovascular health goal for men needs to be weight management and prevention of excess fat accumulation,” Christou said.

The study has implications for both physically active men as well as inactive couch potatoes. “If you are a man who is overweight or obese you need to decrease your amount of fat despite how fit you are,” Christou said.

On the other hand, she added, “If you are a man who is sedentary you need to increase your physical activity level and improve your aerobic fitness despite how fat you are.”

SOURCE: Circulation, April 18, 2005.