“Fit but fat” really is a myth

As much as we may want to tell overweight to obese people, “Don’t worry, you can be fit and fat,” the reality is carrying excess weight will eventually weigh you down.  The concept of “healthy obese” may no longer be accepted within the medical community.

New study on ‘fit but fat”

The largest study of its kind led by Imperial College London and Cambridge University scientists reviewed data on more than 500,000 people in 10 different European countries. Researchers with the study wanted to find out if there was a link between excess weight and risk of coronary heart disease, focusing on each individual’s weight and signs of heart disease such as clogging of blood vessels.    For the study, researchers looked at more than 7,600 people who had cardiovascular events such as death from a heart attack and then compared them to 10,000 people who did not have heart problems.

Study results

The findings showed that regardless of whether a person is overweight or obese, the extra weight was linked to a 25% increased risk of heart disease, even when if their blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol were within normal ranges.  When too much fat is stored in the body this is associated with disease and poor health.  Specifically found was people with three or more heart risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or a large waist size (more than 37 inches for men and 31 inches for women), were more than twice as likely to have heart disease, not matter if their weight was normal or above normal.  Yet those considered overweight but healthy were still 26% more likely to develop heart disease than normal-weight individuals.  Those considered healthy but obese had a 28% higher risk. 

Previous studies have shown that some overweight people seemed to not develop adverse health effects of carrying excess weight.  In fact, they were labeled as “metabolically healthy obese” by experts which evolved into the term, “fit but fat.”

Now health experts are rethinking the notion of “fit but fat.”  It is now believed that excess weight itself may not be increasing the risk of heart disease directly, but instead indirectly through mechanisms such as increased blood pressure and high blood glucose.

Fat acceptance movement

Of lately, there has been a fat acceptance movement sweeping across the country primarily fueled by online activism on social media.  It has been driven by people who are overweight or obese to be treated as equal and to not criticize their life choices or question their overall health.  Many have tried over and over again years of dieting with little to no success and therefore, simply want to be validated in the body shape they have.  The problem though, is almost always at some point in their lives, many of them will eventually suffer from a chronic health problem(s) related to being overweight.  No one says they should be body shamed or hold prejudices toward them as that can have devastating effects on an individual’s self-esteem and self-worth. 

Rather, there needs to be a population-wide prevention and effective treatment of obesity helping them to reach and maintain a healthier body weight reducing their risk of health complications.  This type of action needs to begin at birth with support and advice for families as they raise their children on best ways to feed their families for good health.