Too much abdominal fat in middle age may increase the risk of disability in later years, according to new study findings presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity in Las Vegas.

“Obesity increases the risk of disability,” study author Dr. Denise Houston, of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in North Carolina told Reuters Health. Yet, she added, “it’s not just being obese, but where the fat is located that is important.”

Houston and her colleagues measured the waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index, a measure of weight that takes height into consideration, of more than 9,000 African American and white men and women age 45 to 64 years old. At follow-up, about nine years later, the study participants were asked whether they were able to cook, dress themselves, do household chores and perform other daily living activities without difficulty.

Overall, disability risk increased along with increasing abdominal fat; and this was often true even among normal-weight study participants, study findings show. The greatest risk of disability, however, was found among those in both the highest body mass index and the highest abdominal fat categories.

These obese men and women who had a minimum BMI of 30 and the highest waist-to-hip ratios were 160 percent more likely to report having problems cooking, doing household chores and performing other activities of daily living, than their normal-weight peers in the lowest abdominal fat category. They were also 250 percent more likely to say they had difficulty with regular daily living activities like getting in and out of bed or walking across a room.

These findings remained true when the investigators took into account the study participants’ exercise levels, smoking status, education, and other factors that could have accounted for the increased disability.

“As you age you tend to accumulate body fat in the abdominal area,” Houston said. Citing the importance of exercise and diet, she said adults should try to “maintain a healthy body weight” to prevent disability in later years.

“Our findings suggest that the risk of disability may be reduced by maintaining a healthy body weight and avoiding increases in abdominal fat,” Houston commented in a university statement.