People with beer bellies are at greater risk of death than those who are obese. In fact, even slim adults with a "spare tyre" have twice as high a mortality risk than those who are more overweight, a study has found. Adults who are a normal weight but who have fat around their stomach - known medically as "central obesity" - are likely to die much earlier than those who are heavier but who have their fat evenly distributed around their bodies, scientists have found.Previous research suggested a central obesity link to cardiovascular death.Those with extra stomach fat have less muscle mass, which is associated with higher risk and metabolic dysfunction.However, this is the first time a study has focused on assessing the death risk in persons with central obesity compared to those who are overweight or obese."Obesity, defined by body mass index (BMI) or measures of central obesity, such as waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference, is associated with increased total and cardiovascular mortality," says Dr Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic, Minnesota."However, a recent meta-analysis showed that being overweight according to BMI was actually associated with lower total mortality, challenging the paradigm that BMI is linked to increased mortality.""Normal weight central obesity is associated with higher mortality than BMI obesity, particularly in the absence of central fat distribution." ..