Previous studies have demonstrated that abdominal obesity can be predictive of ischemic heart disease. These prospective cohort studies employed simple indices of body-fat distribution such as waist-to-hip circumference ratio or subscapular skinfold. Their similar results suggested that increased abdominal obesity conferred a two-fold increased risk of ischemic heart disease among middle-aged men. The two proposed studies permitted testing of alternative fat-distribution indices which might be stronger risk factors for ischemic heart disease incidence than the waist-to-hip-ratio or the subscapular skinfold.