If you are overweight does that automatically mean you will have high cholestero!

If you are overweight does that automatically mean you will have high cholesterol?

and also whats the chances of having high cholestrol at 31? would it be unusual? (for someone who is overweight drinks moderatly and smokes)

No, being overweight does not automatically mean you will have high cholesterol.

Many people who are overweight have normal or even low cholesterol. Cholesterol is a fat that is found in the blood stream; being overweight means that you have too much fat deposited around the body - not in your blood stream.

You can have high cholesterol at any age. It is more common as you get older - in fact it is quite normal to have higher cholesterol levels in old age. There are some conditions that run in families that predispose to you having high cholesterol.

For someone who is overweight, drinks moderately and smokes, you are no more likely to have high cholesterol than someone who is of normal weight, doesn't drink and doesn't smoke. However, if you smoke then that will increase your risk of heart problems. If you happen to have high cholesterol then that also increases your risk, but they are both independent risk factors.

Drinking does not affect cholestero, but drinking moderate amounts of red wine protects against heart disease.

The only way to find out is to have it checked. Your doctor or practice nurse can do this for you, and if you don't want to go there then many chemists can do it also. Someone mentioned that Lloyds Chemists were offering free cholesterol tests a few weeks back, but I don't know whether this is true or not.