being skinny is more unhealthy than being fat?

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  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Being underweight will kill you FASTER but being overweight/obese will still get you in the end. A 6 year study isn't a long enough time frame to show that.

    And how did you reach that conclusion?
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
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    correlation-vs-causation.jpg?w=495&h=382

    Winning.
  • DrMAvDPhD
    DrMAvDPhD Posts: 2,097 Member
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    Underweight people die quicker than overweight people, so it's okay to be overweight. Methinks the journalist missed something in the conclusions there. I could perform a similar study concluding that people with cancer die quicker than overweight people, and the only conclusion would be having cancer shortens your lifetime.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    The argument isn't: "is being unhealthy actually unhealthy?"
    The argument is: "do we need to redefine our standards for health?"

    If you can't understand that, then scientific study is not for you. Head on over to www.tmz.com

    I've seen a few studies on the definition of underweight vs. overweight based on the typical BMI model (which certainly has its fair share of problems to begin with, but that's neither here nor there)... It does seem to be that "underweight" is more easily defined because the negative health effects of being underweight occur more quickly. For instance, women with a very low BMI will experience amenorrhea. Storing fat, to a degree we are scientifically unsure of, is what the human body is meant to do. But the upper limit of "healthy weight" is a bit more difficult to define when the risk for heart disease, etc. may not necessarily present itself for many years.
  • MoveTheMountain
    MoveTheMountain Posts: 764
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    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/10/yet_another_obesity_study/

    ...
    and, it seems, being big might not be as bad as we're led to believe.

    The article seems mostly to be written as a vehicle to bash BMI, not really to provide information about obesity vs being 'skinny,' etc. It doesn't provide any better method of adding clarity to the definitions, or set new parameters for what's healthy or not. Also, was there any research into what caused the 'underweight' status of those subjects?

    Just not much here to go on, and not a great article.
  • MoveTheMountain
    MoveTheMountain Posts: 764
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    Although it seems like everyone knows the obese, alcoholic, smoker that lives forever. There is an aspect of that you could consider healthy even though they are clearly "unhealthy" do you think? Just wondering?

    It's been proven time and time again that people will fixate on a statistical anomaly to justify their personal commitment to a habit/lifestyle/behavior that is well documented as being unhealthy. How many people used George Burns as a defense that smoking isn't bad for you?
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    It's not surprising. I've been 10 pounds under my lowest recommended BMI, and 10 pounds above the highest recommended. I was a lot healthier at the higher weight. I'd rather be where I am... smack dab in the middle, but if I had to choose between the extremes, I'd rather be 160 pounds again instead of around 100.
  • MoveTheMountain
    MoveTheMountain Posts: 764
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    Although it seems like everyone knows the obese, alcoholic, smoker that lives forever. There is an aspect of that you could consider healthy even though they are clearly "unhealthy" do you think? Just wondering?

    I don't know any obese, alcoholic, smoker that lives forever, but I do know a lot of skinny, alcoholic, smokers that consumes just about the unhealthiest food possible that lives forever....and I'm very jealous.

    You really probably don't...
  • Brennaohh
    Brennaohh Posts: 47
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    I'm pretty sure the only people under a BMI of 18.5 have an eating disorder. But, being at a healthy weight is still healthier than being obese.

    what? is this sarcasm? bmi has nothing to do with having an eating disorder....
    a lot of people with eating disorders are still overweight.

    Not to mention my BMI is under 18.5 and I dont have an eating disorder nor am i unhealthy.
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Great..another excuse for people to use for justifying their unhealthy lifestyles! :grumble:

    What do you care about other people's lifestyles besides your own? :indifferent:
    Last time I checked, this was a message board topic on a FITNESS site...I was just stating my opinion (as is common practice here), If people want to make excuses to stay obese and be unhealthy, I honestly could not care less, but misleading articles like this are really not helping anyone!
    i think the point is more this... why do you think people need an excuse?
    do i need an excuse for wearing a read sweater, or is it just my choice?
    to use the word 'excuse' implies that you feel they should need to justify themselves.
    The argument isn't: "is being unhealthy actually unhealthy?"
    The argument is: "do we need to redefine our standards for health?"

    If you can't understand that, then scientific study is not for you. Head on over to www.tmz.com

    I've seen a few studies on the definition of underweight vs. overweight based on the typical BMI model (which certainly has its fair share of problems to begin with, but that's neither here nor there)... It does seem to be that "underweight" is more easily defined because the negative health effects of being underweight occur more quickly. For instance, women with a very low BMI will experience amenorrhea. Storing fat, to a degree we are scientifically unsure of, is what the human body is meant to do. But the upper limit of "healthy weight" is a bit more difficult to define when the risk for heart disease, etc. may not necessarily present itself for many years.
    smart person is smart :smile:

    and, in theory, underweight is more easily defined by bmi. unless i'm an amputee, if i'm a stone underweight then there's a stone too little of me. but a stone 'overweight' could be either fat or muscle mass.
  • yaymeforlife
    yaymeforlife Posts: 36
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    I would rather be skinny my whole life and love myself and die a BIT sooner than be fat and hate myself and live longer. Why would anyone want to live extra while they hate what they see in the mirror?
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    tangent:

    i work in elder care. weirdly, and this is just from my personal observations, there seem to be just as many people living to a ripe old age with unhealthy diets as there are healthy. as many who never exercise as do. some of them, i look at what they eat and am amazed they lived 20 years, let alone 90!
    for example, a diet consisting almost entirely of red meat & onions, with a sprinkling of potato and a grapefruit a day, can see a person to 96 with almost no health problems aside from those stemming from a broken hip.

    i wonder if part of our drive for health is to create an illusion of control over the randomness of life and health...
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    I would rather be skinny my whole life and love myself and die a BIT sooner than be fat and hate myself and live longer. Why would anyone want to live extra while they hate what they see in the mirror?
    me too.
    as long as you/we accept that some other people will see fat in the mirror and still love themselves.
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    I would rather be skinny my whole life and love myself and die a BIT sooner than be fat and hate myself and live longer. Why would anyone want to live extra while they hate what they see in the mirror?

    I didn't hate what I saw in the mirror when I was skinny, nor sixty pounds heavier. Hating what you see in the mirror is a problem between your ears, not one of size. No one should ever hate themselves. Ever.
  • MaraDiaz
    MaraDiaz Posts: 4,604 Member
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    It's a heck of a lot easier to be obese than it is to be anorexic! How many people have you met are actually under the lowest recommended BMI?

    That's what I was thinking. Aside from a few runway models, I don't see a whole lot of underweight people in our society.
  • ironanimal
    ironanimal Posts: 5,922 Member
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    I would rather be skinny my whole life and love myself and die a BIT sooner than be fat and hate myself and live longer. Why would anyone want to live extra while they hate what they see in the mirror?
    Who said everyone overweight hates themselves and everyone underweight loves themselves?
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    I would rather be skinny my whole life and love myself and die a BIT sooner than be fat and hate myself and live longer. Why would anyone want to live extra while they hate what they see in the mirror?

    If you want to talk in context of the article... Would you rather be 5lbs underweight, or 5lbs overweight? Because, in terms of the BMI model, weighing 5lbs over "normal" wouldn't peg you as some fatty you should hate and break mirrors over. If you really felt that way, the problem is psychological rather than physical.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 Member
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    i think the point is more this... why do you think people need an excuse?
    do i need an excuse for wearing a read sweater, or is it just my choice?
    to use the word 'excuse' implies that you feel they should need to justify themselves.
    Well, just to clarify, I never said people "need" to give ME an excuse for anything, but can you honestly say that people don't make excuses when they're overweight or leading otherwise unhealthy lifestyles?

    Regarless of what you think my comment implies, I was actually thinking how a lot of people make these excuses to justify it to themselves, not necessarily to the rest of the world. As a formerly overweight, ex-smoker, I am the first to admit that I made excuses about my weight gains, my smoking, and my failure to exercise regularly all the time! The only person I was fooling was myself!
  • yaymeforlife
    yaymeforlife Posts: 36
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    I would rather be skinny my whole life and love myself and die a BIT sooner than be fat and hate myself and live longer. Why would anyone want to live extra while they hate what they see in the mirror?
    Who said everyone overweight hates themselves and everyone underweight loves themselves?

    Its Called an OPINION. I guess I should rephrase:
    Why would I want to live extra while I hate what I see in the mirror?

    Better?
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,695 Member
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    Neither is desirable from a health standpoint. The point of losing/gaining weight is to get to a weight that's proportional to your frame. That's where EVERYONE should strive to be.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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