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Fat but Fit

robertsjm24
robertsjm24 Posts: 9 Member
in Debate Club
A new CNN article, referencing a European Heart Journal study, states that "Fat but Fit" is a myth.

"Carrying those extra pounds can increase risk of coronary heart disease by up to 28% even if your other results appear normal, further disproving the notion that people can be "fat but fit.""

What are your thoughts on this subject? Personally, from my biased point-of-view and unscientific study of being in the military, fit people generally weren't fat. Some had more muscle mass, but they were not fat.



Article: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/health/fat-but-fit-myth-heart-disease-study/index.html

Study: https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-matters-magazine/news/behind-the-headlines/fat-but-fit

Replies

  • rednote49
    rednote49 Posts: 124 Member
    Just from the running groups I'm in and races I've attended, there are definitely skinny, unfit people and fat and fit people. There are people that look like the what most people expect a distance runner to look like but can't make it to a mile without stopping, wheezing and gasping for air. Then there are people, obviously overweight that happily pass these people while planning when their next marathon is. Then again what is the definition of fit? Is it being able to run a mile? Do a difficult yoga pose? Have a resting pulse rate of X or Y?
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Fit and healthy aren't interchangeable terms.
    They may be related but not interchangeable.

    You can certainly be fit and fat - I was for years. Played squash to a reasonable club standard and my preferred tactic was to run better players into the ground as I don't have any particular talent with a racquet.

    Fit people are generally leaner but by no means exclusively. Loads of fat marathon runners and endurance cyclists around but they don't tend to finish near the front of course.
  • RuNaRoUnDaFiEld
    RuNaRoUnDaFiEld Posts: 5,864 Member
    It sounds like they are mixing up fat and fit with fat and healthy.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    This is being discussed on another thread in this section too. Might it be possible to merge the discussions?

    The study is talking about being metabolically healthy and overweight/obese, not athletic fitness.

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