A long-term study has found that being obese does not automatically raise an individual’s risk of heart disease or diabetes.

Researchers studied 1,325 obese individuals between the ages of 28 and 75 for more than seven years. They found 90 of the obese subjects were metabolically healthy – with no history of heart disease or stroke, no diabetes or high blood pressure, and no irregularities in blood fats, including cholesterol and triglycerides or any use of cholesterol-lowering medications.

Throughout the course of the study, they found that cardiovascular disease developed in just one of these 90 individuals.

Researchers say the results indicate that metabolically healthy obese individuals appear to have protection against cardiovascular disease.

"Some obese persons have a normal cardiovascular risk profile, and they have no increased risk for heart and blood vessel disease because of their weight," said the study’s co-author André van Beek, M.D., Ph.D. "They are a small subset of the total obese population. And they may still suffer from other obesity-associated diseases like muscle and joint complaints."

Van Beek added that periodic evaluation of these individuals’ risk profile is essential.