As you may know there is new research out which has caused the following headlines...
- "Being fit is no help if you're fat as well: Scientists say healthy obesity does not exist" Daily Mail, December 3 2013
- "'Healthy and overweight' is a myth, study suggests." BBC News, December 3 2013
- "Obese but healthy? It’s a big, fat myth." The Times, December 3 2013
Lovely dramatic headlines which drew the reader in. However
- "Being fit is no help if you're fat as well: Scientists say healthy obesity does not exist"
Fit was not measured, fit implies physical activity. Research has been done recently which shows the most important factor in living a long life is being physically active independent of BMI.
"'Healthy and overweight' is a myth, study suggests." BBC News, December 3 2013
Overweight is defined as a BMI between 29-30. The research actually found that overweight, healthy people's risks were so similar to the control group's risks that the difference was statistically insignificant.
- "Obese but healthy? It’s a big, fat myth." The Times, December 3 2013
The highest risk group for cardivascular disease was the metabolically unhealthy but normal weight participants (BMI of between 18-25), hence my blog post title. Apparently that is not as appealing as a media headline however.
Here is my opinion on the whole thing.
- Weight shaming is not ok, ever. It doesn't help anything.
- Physical activity is always good.
- Move more, try and eat fruit and veg, be nice to each other and don't base a persons worth on what they weigh.
- Liking yourself is the healthiest behaviour of all.
Two more balanced articles which go into greater detail.
Update: Metabolically healthy means normal blood pressure, low cholesterol and a healthy waist size (less than 37 inches (male) or 31.5 inches (female) )