Fat people can be as healthy as thin people? Hmmm

[W2R]

A study published earlier this year suggests that fat people can be as healthy as thin people. A group of medical doctors tracked the weights and habits of 12,000 people over several years. They found that the people who are most at risk of dying young are those who are obese but do not engage in any "healthy activities" like exercising or eating vegetables. Obese people with healthy habits had roughly the same risks as thinner people of dying young.

Doctors say fat people can live as long as thin ones

Gosh, I sure hope they are right! I know, I know, I am not counting on it, though.

 

[heeyy_joe]

I would have responded sooner but I was eating potato chips.

 

[obgyn65]

My concern is that some people will find this paper as an excuse to over indulge with food. Not a good idea IMO.

 

[HawkeyeNFO]

Why stay in shape?

To me it's not so I can live to be 100, but rather it's to ensure a high quality of life as long as possible. Your body allows you to do some pretty incredible and fun things if properly maintained.

 

[Bikerdude]

Why stay in shape?

To me it's not so I can live to be 100, but rather it's to ensure a high quality of life as long as possible. Your body allows you to do some pretty incredible and fun things if properly maintained.

+1

 

[haha]

Why stay in shape?
Your body allows you to do some pretty incredible and fun things if properly maintained.

I would say that my body is moderately well maintained, but I would hesitate to call anything it does incredible. Fun, I'll agree to, though the intervals are getting longer.

 

[eytonxav]

Doctors say fat people can live as long as thin ones

Gosh, I sure hope they are right! I know, I know, I am not counting on it, though.

I know you have expressed a desire to lose some weight, but remember you are doing a lot to stay fit and healthy and compared to some skinny sedate types, I don't think its a stretch to see yourself with a better projected life span. Also, you can be thin as a rail and still suffer from diabetes, cholesterol, HBP, etc.

 

[ER Eddie]

Not an uncommon finding. See The Myth of Obesity for lots more. There seems to be a good deal of evidence that weight (in itself) is a risk at the very high end and very low end, and also among people with a lot of weight fluctuation, but not otherwise. In most cases, it is the common correlates of obesity (e.g., sedentary lifestyle, poor eating habits, social stress) that contribute to the health risks, not the weight in and of itself. At least that's my read on it.

I'm about 30 or 40 pounds over my ideal weight myself, so I suppose some of this is just me trying to reassure myself, in the face of a constant stream of messages that obesity is bad and will kill you.

I just try to eat healthy and stay reasonably active.

 

[W2R]

I know you have expressed a desire to lose some weight, but remember you are doing a lot to stay fit and healthy and compared to some skinny sedate types, I don't think its a stretch to see yourself with a better projected life span. Also, you can be thin as a rail and still suffer from diabetes, cholesterol, HBP, etc.

Thanks. I thought it was interesting and motivational to read this article. I don't see how the results of this study could ever lessen my motivation to lose weight, but they do give me even more motivation to continue eating my vegetables and exercising regularly.

Also, there are financial planning implications as well.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Do whatever makes you happy. Don't forget to include the consequences. Then divided that by pi. Then watch the Life of Pi while eating some pie.

 

[Cessna5354]

Hey my governor says he is healthy, that is OK with me.......

 

[Todd-O]

Here's the the problem:
They measured BMI which, if you lift weights on a regular basis, will yield an obese result even if the individual is not. Muscle is much denser than fat and even water-more mass per unit volume. IOW, BMI may not be accurate.

 

[tinlizzy]

My concern is that some people will find this paper as an excuse to over indulge with food. Not a good idea IMO.

Like eating for two ...bet you get a lot of that.

but I would hesitate to call anything it does incredible.

Really? I think everything about the body is incredible and the fact that I could replicate it was the most incredible thing of all!

 

[timo2]

BMI is such a crock of stuff. It takes into account no other factors like genetics, athletic condition, whatever.

 

[okapi]

In Japan most folks are slim.Obesity + overweight people are miniscule compared to the U.S.Many tourist come to the U.S. and are amazed at all the "bubble" people they see.Diabetes,colon + prostate cancer,heart disease are also a much smaller issue than here.They don"t have to use their healthcare system that much cause their diet and lifestyle keeps them healthy.Are consumer driven economy won"t mention this for obvious reasons.

 

[ERhoosier]

It's always bothered me how press (inc bloggers) mis-represent scientific literature. I read the actual study and the authors did NOT say "fat people can be as healthy as thin people". The stated conclusion was "Healthy lifestyle habits are associated with a significant decrease in mortality regardless of baseline body mass index". In other words, being a smoking couch potato with a poor diet has life expectancy consequences even for thin folks. But the study did not address overall health, functional status, etc. Only overall risk of dying from all-causes.

Even in its limited conclusion, the study had important weaknesses. Only controlled for a few individual factors (e.g. age, race, sex, education), and did not include other factors known to affect longevity (e.g. family history, changes in BMI or lifestyle/diet over time, etc). Also- this study only used a single cut off for "obesity" at BMI >30 and did not state ave BMI for this group. As other studies have clearly shown, it makes a huge (pardon the pun) difference if a 5'9" guy is 205# (BMI~31) vs 305+# (BMI 45+).

 

[Stanley]

IIRC, there are two types of fat we accumulate. The fat in our legs and such is not that dangerous compared to the fat in our abdomen. Apparently, it is this internal abdominal fat that is the most dangerous. So a relatively 'normal' person with lots of internal abdominal fat is more at risk of disease than a 'fat' person whose fat is more in the butt and thighs and so on.

 

[Stanley]

In Japan most folks are slim.Obesity + overweight people are miniscule compared to the U.S.Many tourist come to the U.S. and are amazed at all the "bubble" people they see.Diabetes,colon + prostate cancer,heart disease are also a much smaller issue than here.They don"t have to use their healthcare system that much cause their diet and lifestyle keeps them healthy.Are consumer driven economy won"t mention this for obvious reasons.

A few years ago I had dinner with neighbors and their parents from SE Asia. The mother commented that she expected to see a lot of big men since she saw them in the American movies. But, she was shocked at the size of so many American women (large women seem to be a Hollywood NO NO). She left about a month later. According to her daughter, she gained 10 pounds on our American diet.

I don't have a weight problem, but I have sympathy for those who do. If nothing else they should read that new book on Salt, Sugar and Fat and learn how the food they eat stimulates their desire for more food. Knowledge is power.

 

[Alan]

In Japan most folks are slim.Obesity + overweight people are miniscule compared to the U.S.Many tourist come to the U.S. and are amazed at all the "bubble" people they see.Diabetes,colon + prostate cancer,heart disease are also a much smaller issue than here.They don"t have to use their healthcare system that much cause their diet and lifestyle keeps them healthy.Are consumer driven economy won"t mention this for obvious reasons.

I agree with your comments, but Japanese folk actually visit the doctor far more often that US folk. (They have universal health care in Japan). From the documentary "Sick around the World" I recall that a Japanese person visits their Doctor 4 times more often and has 5 times more MRI scans than a US person. (Most of the visits are basic physical check-ups)

 

[easysurfer]

BMI is such a crock of stuff. It takes into account no other factors like genetics, athletic condition, whatever.

I've read that it isn't so much how much fat you have but internal (visceral) fat
around the organs that is the real danger.

According to the data, people who maintain their weight through diet rather than exercise are likely to have major deposits of internal fat, even if they are otherwise slim. “The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,” said Bell, whose research is funded by Britain’s Medical Research Council.

Thin people might be fat on the inside - Health - Fitness | NBC News

Well, I almost killed myself today working out on a manual treadmill That may be an over exaggeration, but pushing things a little too hard, I was starting to feel faint

 

[Alan]

I've read that it isn't so much how much fat you have but internal (visceral) fat
around the organs that is the real danger.



Thin people might be fat on the inside - Health - Fitness | NBC News

Well, I almost killed myself today working out on a manual treadmill That may be an over exaggeration, but pushing things a little too hard, I was starting to feel faint

From the linked article:

The good news is that internal fat can be easily burned off through exercise or even by improving your diet. “Even if you don’t see it on your bathroom scale, caloric restriction and physical exercise have an aggressive effect on visceral fat,” said Dr. Bob Ross, an obesity expert at Queen’s University in Canada.

Back in the 80's we used to watch a program called "Your Life in Their Hands" which was a documentary series showing actual surgeries, commentated by another surgeon looking on. One time they were operating on a man who had had a heart attack and in the footage they showed of him prior to surgery he did not look fat at all, but when they opened up his chest cavity the surgeon pointed out the thick layer of fat surrounding the heart. That was the first time I realized that there was more to fat than what the eye can see.

 

[jclarksnakes]

Having worked for 15 years as a nurse in a hospital I think how this report has been reported in the press is seriously flawed. All you have to do is go from one room to the next in a hospital to see how many of the patients are obese. On the orthopedic floor where I worked there were 22 rooms. On some nights every one of our patients was obese.