Fat Can Be Fit

I read two articles in the same
week (in the 12/12 issue of the Duke Medicine Newsletter and in the Tufts Health
and Nutrition Letter) that said fat people can be fit, so that means the truth
is finally getting out. The original study these articles were based on was described
in the 9/5/12 EUROPEAN HEART JOURNAL. If you’re tired of your doctors insisting
that you have to lose weight to be healthy, listen up.

The bottom line, based on a study
of more than 43,000 Americans, is that although obesity is often associated
with disease, a subgroup of obese people don’t suffer from what medicine calls
“metabolic syndrome.” The Tufts article, Almost
Half of Obese Are Nonetheless “Metabolically Healthy, says that many of
these healthy obese people “were found to be more fit than most, regardless of
weight…” The upshot is that “obese people are at no greater risk of heart
disease or cancer than normal-weight people.” 
The Duke article, Metabolically Healthy—And Obese, asks
and answers the question of how “the obesity paradox” can be possible. It explains
that “Doctors never measure fitness” and describes it as a “surrogate for
physical activity.” They go on to say that if you exercise regularly,
preferably daily or near daily (example, walking 150 minutes each week), you
are likely fit...With fitness accounted for, the healthy obese have the same risk
as healthy normal-weight folks do.” Here’s why. Where fat is located in t...

Source: Normal Eating - February 18, 2013 Category: Eating Disorders Authors: eatnormalnow Source Type: blogs