If you're middle-aged and carry extra weight (even if you're not obese), you're 34% more likely to have a heart attack or stroke over the next 17 years — even if you don’t have diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease. This suggests your extra fat might be harming your heart in ways we don’t fully understand yet.

Carrying extra weight makes it more likely you'll have a heart attack or stroke because it pushes up your blood pressure, messes up your cholesterol, and causes body-wide inflammation.

People who are too thin have a much higher chance of dying early—even more than those who are obese—suggesting being underweight is just as dangerous as being very overweight.

Among people with a normal weight (BMI under 30), about 1 in 10 men and 1 in 9 women have too much fat around their internal organs, showing that weight alone doesn't always reveal hidden health risks.

In the Middle East, people who are overweight or obese and have a heart attack are more likely to also have diabetes, high blood pressure, or bad cholesterol—but they’re not more likely to die in the hospital than thinner patients.

If you’re overweight (BMI 23 or higher), having type 2 diabetes explains about a quarter of why you’re more likely to have heart problems — meaning diabetes is a big reason why extra weight hurts your heart.