Healthy and Overweight a Myth?

janatarnhem

This needed research?

Yes it did!
It was a actually a paper looking at all quantitative and qualiative research already performed to eliminate the doubt that exists that you can be overweight and be healthy.
It looks at the effect of being overweight in it's longevity. The fact that an overweight person may feel fit and have blood chemistry in the normal range is not okay. An overweight person will die earlier than a person who is within a normal BMI - not with standing the limitations of the BMI system and the individual.

csuhar

Now, the definition of obese needs to be clarified since we all know that BMI isn't a good measure.

That's exactly the point I was going to make. The key to the article seems to be the idea that excess FAT is the source of the risks. And I think most of us can agree we're trying to limit the amount of excess fat on our bodies.

But we recently saw people advocating a change in what BMI constitutes "obese", which would classify more people as being obsese without any changes in their physical makeup or increase in risk factors.

iplayoutside19

She said it was useful to think of lifestyle overall rather than individual risk factors.

"As well as watching your weight, if you stop smoking, get regular physical activity and keep your blood pressure and cholesterol levels at a healthy level, you can make a real difference in reducing your risk of heart disease.

It seems that this study was done on the general population and that whether the obese people with normal vitals exercised regularly was not taken into account.

I think a good portion of the MFP population is like me. They've lost an initial significant amount of weight but still have those stubborn areas, and are still classified as over-weight or obese. This would especially happen to people who spend time lifting. So, my question would be, if an obese person does have a healthy/active lifestyle and their vitals are normal....are they still in that risk group?

LiftAllThePizzas

I guess this proves the old adage.

omma_to_3

The article didn't mention obese people who get regular (or even excessive) amounts of exercise and have normal vitals. Most obese people do not run in half marathons and lift weights so likely the people in their study did not. The article itself mentions exercise reducing the heart risk. I would say that an obese person that frequently exercises is much, much healthier - including their heart.

I would assume though that obese people who frequently exercise are in the minority of obese people. Most overweight people I know don't exercise much...

(Edited to add...To be fair, most normal weight people I know don't exercise much either.)

No, I agree with you. I was just pointing out that the study didn't look at that affect at all. The study also wasn't focused on joint health - only heart health. I've seen other studies (well, things like this that were articles written about studies - didn't read the actual studies myself) that showed vigorous exercise improved heart health regardless of the weight of the person - ie, even obese people who were regular exercisers had healthy hearts.

And let's be clear...I'm not saying it's OK to be truly obese (not "BMI" only obese such as lifters LOL). I mean, I'm here aren't I? LOL. But, making inferences about things the study didn't examine is sketchy at best. I even read a study summary that found "overweight" people (overweight on BMI scale, but NOT obese on BMI scale) lived longer on average than healthy weight people (though I can't remember the specifics).

Slaintegrl

This needed research?

Yes it did!
It was a actually a paper looking at all quantitative and qualiative research already performed to eliminate the doubt that exists that you can be overweight and be healthy.
It looks at the effect of being overweight in it's longevity. The fact that an overweight person may feel fit and have blood chemistry in the normal range is not okay. An overweight person will die earlier than a person who is within a normal BMI - not with standing the limitations of the BMI system and the individual.

For the most part, this is true, but it's still a generality - it will not be true 100% of the time. Because not all people die from being unhealthy or having health issues.

lyzmorrison

My coworker is at least 75lbs overweight. She can't take a flight of stairs without being winded. She uses a machine for sleep apnea. Yet her doctor tells her that her weight is fine. She thinks she's healthy. It makes me crazy.

RosaliaBee

"This data is suggesting that both patients who are obese who are metabolically unhealthy and patients who are obese who are metabolically healthy are both at increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease,"

I always like to see solid evidence for any public claims made especially about health. I'm not a fat advocate, I don't want to remain fat or learn to 'embrace my curves' or whatever, but I have found some of the (largely fairly rational) arguments from HAES thought provoking.

It would be interesting to see a less fuzzy analysis of the data than has been set out above. Such as for example to what extent are metabolically unhealthy obese people at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, compared to what extent metabolically healthy obese people are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

I don't have a dog in that fight, but I would be interested to know the answers. I too, as some other posters have mentioned, would love to know if positive diet and lifestyle factors can have a mitigating effect on the likelihood of obese people developing other kinds of diseases typically linked to obesity. I'm sure there's a lot more work that could be done on this kind of thing to clarify the shady areas which would potentially be of benefit to our whole society.

rb16fitness

The phrase 'no *kitten* sherlock' springs to mind. Dread to think how much money was wasted on this so called research.

RosaliaBee

Research is what moves us forward. It's not always a "no duh". Sometimes, research reveals the opposite of what we think is true.

Agree, it's what makes the difference between genuine knowledge and mere opinion.

Another thing that can happen, is that by careful analysis we can learn the all important 'why' behind certain results. The 'why' behind obesity being linked to diabetes for example. We know obesity is considered a risk factor in developing diabetes, but I've yet to read anything that tells me *exactly how* they are linked. Is it a bad diet that also contributes to the obesity, is it inherited genes that also make the potential sufferer more likely to become obese, or is it physiological changes in the body that occur once a person becomes obese?

seltzermint555

That makes sense to me. All of my numbers are amazing...but my extra weight is still an added stress to my body. I'm proud that my numbers are so good, because that is one less thing to worry about, but it certainly doesn't mean I don't need to lose the weight. I think if I were to believe I don't need to lose weight because my numbers are healthy...it would just be a blind. I'd be in denial and ignoring the issues I do have.

EXACTLY my thoughts!!

I think the problem for me is the way people want to be so incredibly black and white about this. It's simply not a black/white issue. Not all obese or overweight people have the same health problems and although we may share many health risks, it's just unfair to assume that because Janet is 5'5, 190 lb and has bad cholesterol, fatty liver disease, and Type 2 Diabetes (for example), Mary at 5'5", 220 lb definitely has all of those same health problems. She might not have ANY of them currently. People don't look at it that way.

bcattoes

"Healthy and overweight" is not the same as "overweight obesity". The difference between overweight and obese can be as great or as small as the difference between healthy weight and overweight.

The only evidence I've seen for healthy and overweight" is that people who are moderately overweight (nearer to healthy weight than obese, but still technically overweight by BMI) who exercise regularly can be as healthy as those within the healthy weight category. This just seems like common sense since exercise is as much a factor in health as weight.

cafeaulait7

The article uses the term overweight, but the quotes from the researchers only use obese. Oy.

Because it makes no difference whether we're talking about obesity or overweight, I guess. Makes sense to me. Fat (at all) = bad in the media, no matter how precisely research may be done.

cafeaulait7

Yeah, looks like the article in the OP's title (and the post's title) is incorrect, according to what was actually found:

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1784291

"Background: Recent interest has focused on a unique subgroup of overweight and obese individuals who have normal metabolic features despite increased adiposity. Normal-weight individuals with adverse metabolic status have also been described. However, it remains unclear whether metabolic phenotype modifies the morbidity and mortality associated with higher body mass index (BMI).

Purpose: To determine the effect of metabolic status on all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in normal-weight, overweight, and obese persons.

Data Sources: Studies were identified from electronic databases.

Study Selection: Included studies evaluated all-cause mortality or cardiovascular events (or both) and clinical characteristics of 6 patient groups defined by BMI category (normal weight/overweight/obesity) and metabolic status (healthy/unhealthy), as defined by the presence or absence of components of the metabolic syndrome by Adult Treatment Panel III or International Diabetes Federation criteria.

Data Extraction: Two independent reviewers extracted the data. Metabolically healthy people of normal weight made up the reference group.

Data Synthesis: Eight studies (n = 61 386; 3988 events) evaluated participants for all-cause mortality and/or cardiovascular events. Metabolically healthy obese individuals (relative risk [RR], 1.24; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.55) had increased risk for events compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals when only studies with 10 or more years of follow-up were considered. All metabolically unhealthy groups had a similarly elevated risk: normal weight (RR, 3.14; CI, 2.36 to 3.93), overweight (RR, 2.70; CI, 2.08 to 3.30), and obese (RR, 2.65; CI, 2.18 to 3.12).

Limitation: Duration of exposure to the metabolic–BMI phenotypes was not described in the studies and could partially affect the estimates.

Conclusion: Compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals, obese persons are at increased risk for adverse long-term outcomes even in the absence of metabolic abnormalities, suggesting that there is no healthy pattern of increased weight.

Primary Funding Source: Intramural funds from the Leadership Sinai Centre for Diabetes."

ThickMcRunFast

This was an interesting article, but people miss things about it in the discussion

1) it was not its own study, but a meta-analysis of 8 already published studies.
2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road, but so did 'normal weight and metabolically unhealthy' subjects. You can be unhealthy at any weight, basically.

I used to think that the conclusion of 'its not healthy to be overweight' fell into the 'hurr and/or durr' category, I've seen enough posts of people yelling at each other over 'fat acceptance' to think otherwise.

my overall conclusions: Its not healthy to be overweight. Its not healthy to be a normal weight and eat 1800 calories of crap (300 calories of crap and 1500 calories of nutrient dense awesomeness is fine, though). We shouldn't be d*cks to people because of their weight.

rgugs13

NPR has an article on this subject as well. I think body composition is a better indicator than weight or BMI.

The NPR article talks about a study that found that individuals with a slightly overweight BMI actually live longer than individuals with a healthy BMI. That study came under scrutany because very sick people often lose weight and would fall into a healthy BMI category. When they went back and added current health factors in, the results changed. It talks about how even if overweight people have are currently within healthy levels for Bp, cholesterol, etc, that is likely to change as they age and the extra weight strains their bodies.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013/12/02/248206955/overweight-and-healthy-a-combo-that-looks-too-good-to-be-true?device=iphone

cafeaulait7

This was an interesting article, but people miss things about it in the discussion

1) it was not its own study, but a meta-analysis of 8 already published studies.
2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road, but so did 'normal weight and metabolically unhealthy' subjects. You can be unhealthy at any weight, basically.

I used to think that the conclusion of 'its not healthy to be overweight' fell into the 'hurr and/or durr' category, I've seen enough posts of people yelling at each other over 'fat acceptance' to think otherwise.

my overall conclusions: Its not healthy to be overweight. Its not healthy to be a normal weight and eat 1800 calories of crap (300 calories of crap and 1500 calories of nutrient dense awesomeness is fine, though). We shouldn't be d*cks to people because of their weight.

I don't have a subscription, so I can't see the part that indicates this: "2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road..." Can you hook up a quote, please?

ThickMcRunFast

This was an interesting article, but people miss things about it in the discussion

1) it was not its own study, but a meta-analysis of 8 already published studies.
2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road, but so did 'normal weight and metabolically unhealthy' subjects. You can be unhealthy at any weight, basically.

I used to think that the conclusion of 'its not healthy to be overweight' fell into the 'hurr and/or durr' category, I've seen enough posts of people yelling at each other over 'fat acceptance' to think otherwise.

my overall conclusions: Its not healthy to be overweight. Its not healthy to be a normal weight and eat 1800 calories of crap (300 calories of crap and 1500 calories of nutrient dense awesomeness is fine, though). We shouldn't be d*cks to people because of their weight.

I don't have a subscription, so I can't see the part that indicates this: "2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road..." Can you hook up a quote, please?

here's a quote from the results section, though I'm combing through their statistics now

"In pooled analysis of 8 studies, the metabolically unhealthy normal weight group had increased risk for all-cause mortality or CV events compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight persons (RR, 3.14; CI, 2.36 to 3.93) (Figure 2, A)"

ETA: conclusion paragraph:
"In conclusion, our meta-analysis supports the concept of heterogeneity of metabolic status among individuals within the same BMI range. Metabolically healthy obese individuals are at increased risk for death and CV events over the long term compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight persons, suggesting that increased BMI is not a benign condition even in the absence of metabolic abnormalities. In addition, all metabolically unhealthy individuals (normal weight, overweight, obese) had increased risk for events compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals. Thus, in evaluating CV and mortality risk, it is important to consider both BMI and metabolic status to reliably estimate long-term outcome."

RosaliaBee

This was an interesting article, but people miss things about it in the discussion

1) it was not its own study, but a meta-analysis of 8 already published studies.
2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road, but so did 'normal weight and metabolically unhealthy' subjects. You can be unhealthy at any weight, basically.

I used to think that the conclusion of 'its not healthy to be overweight' fell into the 'hurr and/or durr' category, I've seen enough posts of people yelling at each other over 'fat acceptance' to think otherwise.

my overall conclusions: Its not healthy to be overweight. Its not healthy to be a normal weight and eat 1800 calories of crap (300 calories of crap and 1500 calories of nutrient dense awesomeness is fine, though). We shouldn't be d*cks to people because of their weight.

I don't have a subscription, so I can't see the part that indicates this: "2) it concluded that 'overweight and metabolically healthy' subjects saw adverse effects down the road..." Can you hook up a quote, please?

here's a quote from the results section, though I'm combing through their statistics now

"In pooled analysis of 8 studies, the metabolically unhealthy normal weight group had increased risk for all-cause mortality or CV events compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight persons (RR, 3.14; CI, 2.36 to 3.93) (Figure 2, A)"

ETA: conclusion paragraph:
"In conclusion, our meta-analysis supports the concept of heterogeneity of metabolic status among individuals within the same BMI range. Metabolically healthy obese individuals are at increased risk for death and CV events over the long term compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight persons, suggesting that increased BMI is not a benign condition even in the absence of metabolic abnormalities. In addition, all metabolically unhealthy individuals (normal weight, overweight, obese) had increased risk for events compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals. Thus, in evaluating CV and mortality risk, it is important to consider both BMI and metabolic status to reliably estimate long-term outcome."

Thank you for highlighting this clarification.