
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 8, 1995                   TAG: 9502080078
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO                                LENGTH: Short

EVEN 11 POUNDS CAN HURT

Middle-aged women should weigh far less than most people think, and less than the government recommends, in order to have healthy hearts, Harvard researchers say.

New findings from a study of more than 115,000 nurses strongly indicate that U.S. weight guidelines are too lax and encourage obesity in both men and women.

``We found that about 40 percent of all heart attacks that occur in middle-aged women are due to overweight,'' and similar results occur in men, said Dr. JoAnn E. Manson, co-director of women's health at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

Women who gained 10 or fewer pounds in early to middle adulthood had the lowest risk of heart attacks.

The researchers reported in today'sWednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association that a 5-foot-6-inch woman had the lowest risk if she weighed less than 130 pounds. A weight of 130 to 142 pounds carried a 20 percent higher risk. At 142 to 155 pounds, it was 50 percent higher.

by CNB