Researchers at National Yang-Ming University in Taipei, Taiwan said in a new study that "apple-shaped" adults who have the most abdominal fat in their middle age have an increased risk of developing hypertension. The researchers examined data on 2,377 Chinese adults aged 30 and above.

Some 25 percent of the subjects developed hypertension during the course of the 10-year study. Researchers found that people who had large waistlines at the beginning of the study had a higher risk for hypertension than those who had little or no abdominal fat.

Even in otherwise healthy individuals, an expanding waistline meant high blood pressure. The findings of the study are published in the American Journal of Hypertension.