A new study is working to dispel the myth of ‘health at every size’ and it shows that it is not possible to be fat and healthy at the same time. Researchers warn that an active lifestyle is simply not enough to reduce the inherent health risks associated with obesity, at least those associated with heart health, which put many people at risk for chronic diseases.
The findings come from the European Society of Cardiology, which found that excess body fat puts stress on the heart and that exercise does not prevent it. The findings follow past studies that have muddy the waters, and some report that fitness can help someone who is overweight or obese avoid the heart complications associated with it.
This new study set out to explain whether this is the case, and did so by analyzing more than 527,000 adults in Spain. Of the participants, 32 percent were women; the whole group had an average age of 42 years. Similarly, 42 percent were normal weight, while 41 percent were classified as overweight and 18 percent as obese.
The data also showed that more than 63 per cent of the participants lived an inactive lifestyle, 24.2 per cent regularly arranged and 12.3 per cent were classified as ‘insufficiently active’. The study further presents even more numbers, noting that 15 percent of participants had high blood pressure, 30 percent had high cholesterol levels and 3 percent were diagnosed with diabetes.
First, the good news: the study found that any level of activity, regardless of the person’s BMI, is associated with a reduced risk of developing the three conditions mentioned. However, the study noted that participants who were overweight or obese had a greater risk for heart health compared to people with a normal weight.
The risk was increased at all activity levels, meaning that overweight people who were regularly active still had a high risk of cardiovascular problems. The study noted that someone who is obese but active has a double risk of developing high cholesterol compared to a person who was inactive but who has a normal weight.
The risk has increased since then, with active obese adults having four times the chance of developing diabetes and five times the risk of high blood pressure compared to inactive adults of normal weight.
The author of the study, dr. Alejandro Lucia, said:
One cannot be ‘fat but healthy’. This was the first nationwide analysis that showed that the fact that you are regularly active is not likely to eliminate the detrimental effects on the health of excess body fat. Our findings refute the notion that a physically active lifestyle can completely negate the harmful effects of being overweight and obese.