Being overweight or obese does pose a risk of heart disease, despite claims to the contrary, a study of nearly 3,00,000 British adults suggests.

While it is generally accepted that being overweight increases a person’s disease risk, some researchers have recently suggested that carrying extra weight does not actually boost death rates for some, particularly the elderly.

A number have even suggested that being overweight may protect against disease, a claim dubbed the “obesity paradox.” But the latest study, published in the European Heart Journal, said there is no paradox.

It looked at 2,96,535 people aged 40-69 who enrolled in an ongoing health study in the United Kingdom between 2006 and 2010. For the latest analysis, data on the participants – all of “white European descent” – was available until 2015.

The researchers noted the participants’ Body Mass Index (BMI) – a ratio of weight-to-height squared used to determine whether a person falls in a healthy weight range. They then tracked who went on to develop cardiovascular disease risk (CVD) – which includes heart attack, stroke or high blood pressure.

“Furthermore, the risk also increases steadily the more fat a person carries around their waist,” said a press statement summarising the findings.

People with a BMI of 22-23 kg/m2 had the lowest CVD risk, the study found. “As BMI increased above 22kg/m2, the risk of CVD increased by 13 percent for every 5.2 kg/m2 increase in women and 4.3 kg/m2 in men.”

The findings presented a direct challenge to the obesity paradox.

“Any public misconception of a potential ‘protective’ effect of fat on heart and stroke risks should be challenged,” said study co-author Stamatina Iliodromiti from the University of Glasgow. It is possible that the effect would be different for people with pre-existing disease, the authors said.

But for healthy people, maintaining a BMI of 22-23 kg/m2 appeared to minimise the risk of developing or dying from heart disease. “The less fat, especially around their abdomen, the lower the risk of future heart disease,” the authors concluded.