Being fit is no help if you're fat as well: Scientists say healthy obesity does not exist



Canadian scientists carried out research examining 61,000 people from the 1950s to the present day

The study strongly refuted the suggestion that a person's physical fitness is more important than their weight

Evidence showed despite a person having normal blood pressure and being able to process sugar easily, excess weight alone remains critical







There is no such thing as being fat and healthy, scientists warn.

They have strongly refuted suggestions that a person’s physical fitness is more important than their weight.

The ‘fat and fit’ myth has been punctured by research involving 61,000 people and covering a period from the 1950s to the present day.

The theory was that good metabolic fitness, that is, having normal blood pressure and being able to process sugar easily, would protect people from the consequences of obesity, such as heart disease and diabetes.

A new study by Canadian scientists has strongly refuted suggestions that a person's physical fitness is more important than their weight

However, the new research, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that even though high blood pressure, poor blood sugar control and high blood fats are important indicators of disease, the excess weight itself remains critical.

Seriously overweight people who displayed none of these warning signs were nonetheless found to die younger than people at a normal weight.

Canadian scientists, from the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, conducted a review of eight studies published from 1950 onwards to find out whether these metabolic indicators were linked to premature death and heart disease in normal-weight, overweight and obese people.

The 'fat and fit' myth has been punctured by research involving 61,000 people from the 1950s to the present day

They classified the participants by Body Mass Index (BMI), which gives weight guidelines based on height, and measured lipid profile (blood fats), glucose tolerance (sugar), blood pressure and waist circumference, as well as other metabolic features.

Bad results in these tests have been dubbed ‘the metabolic syndrome’ and increase the risk of a range of diseases.

Those supposedly ‘fat and fit’ have been described as having ‘metabolically healthy obesity’ because they do not have the metabolic syndrome.

Normal-weight individuals can also have a poor metabolic profile, such as high blood pressure or poor sugar control, despite having a healthy BMI.

But the study showed that obese people with a good metabolic profile were still more likely to die young or have heart problems in the long term than those of normal weight. The scientists also found those with metabolic syndrome were at greater risk of disease regardless of whether they were fat or not.

Dr Ian Campbell, a GP and medical director of the charity Weight Concern, said the issue was not well understood.

He said: ‘I’ve read studies that suggest obesity doesn’t make you die any earlier at all, and it’s likely that genetic predisposition will play a large part in whether being overweight results in a range of diseases that may shorten your life.

‘Many other studies conclude that overweight and obesity make you more prone to disease and premature death.’

He added: ‘It’s clearly a good idea for anyone who is overweight to get as fit as possible because being more active helps in weight loss, and it mitigates the metabolic effects of being fat.