Shape, not weight, indicates cardiovascular health (1/29/98) Are
you shaped like an apple or a pear? Do we have to change our
body image through exercise and diet to remain healthy? "If you
are shaped like an apple," says Colleen S. Keller, PhD,
professor in the department of family nursing care at The
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, "you
may be at risk for cardiovascular disease." "Our research group
shows that women from different ethnic groups have body fat
located in different areas of the body," says Dr. Keller. "Black
and Hispanic women have classic gluteal femoral deposits -- they
are shaped like pears -- and native American women have classic
apple shapes. Of course, in some Indian tribes the incidence of
heart disease and diabetes is very high, but we can't tell by
looking at a woman on the street if she is at risk for heart
disease." Dr. Keller initially worked with normal weight
minority women and found that they had large fat deposits even
when they were not overweight --