Some Ethnic Groups More Vulnerable to Dangerous Fat

This organ-hugging fat, which can show the way to diabetes and coronary artery disease, is more common among people beginning South Asia, the Canadian researchers reported in the July 28 online edition of the journal PLoS ONE.

"The new study showed South Asians contain less space to store fat below the skin than white Caucasians," Dr. Sonia Anand, a professor of medication and epidemiology at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, said in a university news release. "Their excess fat, consequently, overflows to ectopic compartments, in the stomach and liver where it may affect function."

This extra fat surrounding vital organs, identified as visceral fat, is also associated with metabolic problems, including elevated blood sugar and irregular blood fats -- risk factors that ultimately lead to coronary artery disease, the study author explained.