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Is a person’s weight really a reliable indicator of overallhealth? Some medical research is showing that it isn’t. Last week areport in The Archives of Internal Medicine compared weight andcardiovascular risk factors among a representative sample of more than 5,400adults. Half of the overweight people and one-third of obese people in thestudy were “metabolically healthy.” That means that many overweight and obeseadults may have healthy levels of “good” cholesterol, blood pressure, and bloodglucose. At the same time, about one out of four slim people in the studyactually had at least two cardiovascular risk factors typically associated withobesity. Being overweight or obese is definitely linked with numeroushealth problems. Nonetheless, researchers found the proportion of overweightand obese people who are metabolically healthy surprising. Several studies have shown that fitness, as determined by how aperson performs on a treadmill, is a far better indicator of health than bodymass index. Some research has indicated that people who are fat but can stillkeep up on treadmill tests have much lower heart risk than people who are slimand unfit. Sources: New York Times August 18, 2008 Archives ofInternal Medicine August, 2008; 168(15):1617-1624 |
