Eating fish may reduce risk for metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a widely discussed condition in medical circles related to obesity. Metabolic syndrome can affect anyone of any weight.  It increases risk of heart disease. Diagnosis is based on accumulation of fat around the waist, blood pressure, levels of key lipids, and glucose levels.  Eating right and exercise are first line of defense.  

The cost in 2003 due to metabolic syndrome was 6 million hospitalizations and 1 million deaths costing $350 billion.  It is estimated that 47 million US adults have it.  Relating to metabolic syndrome, it was shown that lower waist-hip ratio is more important to survival than BMI.

That big waistline really can kill you.  But it may be pleasant to know that saturated fats contribute to metabolic syndrome, but unsaturated fats prevent it.  This is one reason so many articles report the benefits of fish oil.  It provides the particular unsaturated fats most important in preventing weight gain and other health hazards.  The American Heart Association now recommends very high levels of fish oil, reported in the references last month.