A new study suggest that social stress may cause the body to deposit more fat in the abdomen. This condition could also increase the risk of heart disease.

According to principal investigator Carol A. Shively, a professor of pathology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, this findings could lead to new ways to combat rising rates of obesity.

In a Wake Forest news release she said that fat which is located in the abdomen behaves differently than fat in other location in your body. Too much fat in abdomen can have far more harmful effects on health.

This study was designed to see how social status affects the development of heart disease. And they found that social subordination causes the release of stress hormones that promote fat accumulation in the abdomen which could promotes the build-up of plaque in blood vessels that leads to heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.

Shively said the findings reinforce the wisdom of healthy eating, regular exercise and handling stress well.