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james7 · 04-18-2012, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R

Pork rinds are vegetables? I never knew that!

I never liked pork rinds until I started dipping them in ketchup. Now that is a gourmet treat!! The federal government said ketchup can be counted as a vegetable for school lunches, so now you have a real vegetarian snack.

I wonder if they'll approve chocolate syrup as a fruit juice?

harley · 04-18-2012, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigNick

Ummm. I'd like to see the actual science there. I do know that there are lots of little old ladies. Big old ladies? Not so much.

I couldn't find the study referred to by flyfishnevada, but here's an article that talks about it. Who Lives Longer - Overweight People or Thin People

Regarding the big old ladies vs. little old ladies, my experience isn't the same. I've seen plenty of both. It's the old men who are in short supply.

And also anecdotally, I know a significant number of unhealthy thinner people. They always seem to be sick or tired, and have flabby muscles. I often wonder if they are just malnourished. Health doesn't appear to be that well tied in with weight, in my experience. Health is different, and has to do more with decent nutrition and exercise. Body weight doesn't seem to be the deciding factor to me.

**Alan** · 04-18-2012, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley

I couldn't find the study referred to by flyfishnevada, but here's an article that talks about it. Who Lives Longer - Overweight People or Thin People

Thanks Harley, interesting article. That study, in Japan, showed that overweight people at age 40 lived a little longer than their normal weight counterparts (~1.6 years longer for men) but obese people lived about 0.5 years less. (BMI>30 is considered obese in the study).

Much bigger differences when compared to very thin people (over 6 years), but the very thin definition is a BMI <18.5. (at 6'1.5" I would have to weigh 142lbs for a BMI of 18.5 and that would be ultra thin, imo).

What I do read into this study is that it is much better to be outside the the "normal" BMI range on the high side (>30) than it is to be below the low limit (<18.5)

Midpack · 04-18-2012, 11:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigNick

True, but "unhealthy" and "overweight" are substantially correlated, even if not at 1.0.

The OP article conclusion stands to reason, though using BMI may distort the extent "healthy habits" can offset the influence of obesity. The offset may be less, body composition would have been more credible than BMI.

Unfortunately unhealthy and obese indeed appear to be highly correlated as you can see by looking at mortality and heart disease vs mortality without the health habits slice. And if obesity reduces mobility with age (joint problems are more common with obesity), healthy habits and therefore lifespan may be threatened despite all intentions.

**rodi** · 04-18-2012, 11:41 AM

Interesting articles. I guess this fits me. I have insurance through Kaiser Permanente and they have a full physical thing you can do every 5 years or so. They measure all sorts of normal stuff (cholesterol, bp, etc), as well as stuff like your lung capacity. And they look at BMI etc. They compile all the data then generate a report that tells you what your health age is.

I consistently get a health age of about 5 years less than my actual age. Drives my husband nuts (he's only 2 years younger with his health age.) The report also says I'm fat. I don't dispute that. I refuse to get on the yo-yo diet thing again. I just try to eat healthy food, and not stress about the weight.

I'm fat. No getting around it. BMI puts me at obese. But I eat healthy (lots of real food - not a lot of processed food. Tons of veggies and fruits, whole grains, etc.) I am a moderate drinker. Don't smoke. Have low cholesteral and BP. I should exercise more, but it's currently limited to walking the dog several times a week. So I've got all but the exercise covered in their "healthy habits" list.

My brother was a health nut. At age 48 he rode in the "Ride the Rockies" multi day bike ride, then in the "Tour D' Wyoming" multi day bike ride. He worked out, was an avid rock climber, had no body fat to speak of. He died less than 6 months after his Wyoming ride. These studies don't look at other diseases outside of cardiac/stroke. In our family - it's cancer. His second (unrelated) malignancy was incurable. (He'd kicked Melanoma in college).

I'm not saying don't practice healthy habits. But they are not a guarantee. My brother was one of the healthiest people I knew - until he wasn't.

TromboneAl · 04-18-2012, 02:32 PM

In addition to longevity, there's a quality of life and a vanity issue here as well. If you are 20 pounds overweight, you are carrying two bowling balls with you wherever you go. That doesn't sound fun to me.

People who are 100 pounds overweight are carrying 10 bowling balls -- I'm tired at the end of the day -- how do they feel?

I guess the vanity issue isn't important to most, because they've gotten used to the new normal. I assume this is true when I see overweight women wearing tight, clinging outfits that allow their muffin tops to escape.