FAT PEOPLE CAN BE AS HEALTHY AS THIN PEOPLE

peterdt

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/12/31/evidence-that-fat-people-can-be-as-healthy-as-thin-people/

This article was very encouraging. It's all about the lifestyle change. Certainly it is important to lose the weight for a lot of reasons (like stress on knees, making more money, a better self-image).

Also, the survery says nothing to quality of life or the fact that obese people are treated with much less respect in general in society.

But for those of you in a huge rush to lose the weight so you can be healthy guess what? The changes you have hopefully already made already are giving you a much longer life.

check out the graph in the article and it is quite surprising.

The 4 measured factors for prolonging your life:
1. eating 5 or more fruits and vegetables daily
2. exercising regularly
3. consuming alcohol in moderation
4. not smoking

nwg74

I was 373 pounds and I considered myself fairly healthy apart from the weight a little high blood pressure (140 over 95).

I don't drink or smoke
Had no diabetes
I could walk several miles (but I am now faster)


I have now lost 200 pounds and I have backache a lot of the time.

Mokey41

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

hamonk

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2012/12/31/evidence-that-fat-people-can-be-as-healthy-as-thin-people/

This article was very encouraging. It's all about the lifestyle change. Certainly it is important to lose the weight for a lot of reasons (like stress on knees, making more money, a better self-image).

Also, the survery says nothing to quality of life or the fact that obese people are treated with much less respect in general in society.

But for those of you in a huge rush to lose the weight so you can be healthy guess what? The changes you have hopefully already made already are giving you a much longer life.

check out the graph in the article and it is quite surprising.

The 4 measured factors for prolonging your life:
1. eating 5 or more fruits and vegetables daily
2. exercising regularly
3. consuming alcohol in moderation
4. not smoking

magerum

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

^this. I used to weigh a lot, that question above helped motivate me.

megsmom2

Being overweight doesn't automatically mean unhealthy. Some people got genetically lucky, some people just happen to eat the right combination to do ok, whatever. But long term...into your 60s or beyond....overweight is pretty clearly linked to health problems, and for some people, those problems show up way earlier in diabetes, or heart disease, or other problems, including joint damage. Sure I have always been pretty healthy...even when I weighed 240 a few years ago. I want to KEEP being healthy and able to enjoy my life. Losing weight, exercising more, and eating better gives me the best chance of doing that.

omma_to_3

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

Um...a lot?

KANGOOJUMPS

hmm.

DopeItUp

Define consuming alcohol....in moderation.

Sballard418

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

Hover round!!!! (one of my favorite commercials) :laugh:

Now Carry on!


Ever been to walmart on a saturday?

lovelylittlegiggles

This is true. I have a friend who is 5'3" and is overweight. She is the perfect picture of health on the inside. But her weight is causing her some knee issues and her hip has been acting up lately. Her doc says that she needs to lose weight to see any improvement in the pain in those two areas. Because she is healthy, outside of her those listed issues, she won't lose the weight.

So, yes, fat doesn't mean unhealthy.

jack3Dav3

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

I'm all for getting "healthy," but hell I'd gladly trade my 80s and 90s to enjoy myself while I'm in my 20s.

ETA: Screw it, throw my 70s in the trade too.

kspwhite

my grandparents. - not that it should be an argument for being obese, but it's just not a valid argument for you.

jamers3111

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

Boom. My 300# sister claims she is "healthy" because her blood pressure and cholesterol are normal. Yet she can barely walk up a flight of stairs and she NEVER cooks, so all of her meals consist of processed foods. I don't care who you are but you're not healthy at 300#... but I get that the article is motivating, saying that if you do these things you are on your way to being healthy.

Muddy_Yogi

Define consuming alcohol....in moderation.

I also need this defined.

bcattoes

Of course fat people can be as healthy as thin people. But the risk of remaining so is greater if your weight is in the healthy range.

A few things are not accounted for, age being the most notable. I would imagine the differences to be greater as age increases, as many weight related diseases take years to develop.

Also, since BMI alone is used as the number of heatlhy habits increases, the greater the chance of having outliers such as athletes and body builders in the overweight and obese groups.

While the title says "fat" people, they really mean overweight people, which is usually the same thing, but not always.

keshiabug1

I honestly believe this. I work with someone who is literally like 100 lbs. I am 150 lbs and for some reason she feels that she is healthier than me. She has asthma, bronchitis, and is hypoglycemic.... and I hightly doubt she can do too much as far as the physical activity/exercise that I do. I, on the other hand, have no health problems such as she does... And I am also very able to exercise for a reasonable amount of time and a reasonable pace... and still be okay afterwards.

I understand that the obese tend to have more health problems than smaller people... However,

WEIGHT is not a good way to determine ones health. (I can weigh 200 lbs and be pure muscle rather than be overweight.)

bcattoes

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

I'm all for getting "healthy," but hell I'd gladly trade my 80s and 90s to enjoy myself while I'm in my 20s.

ETA: Screw it, throw my 70s in the trade too.

You only say that because you are in your 20's. But depending on how you define enjoyment, there is no reason you have to trade anything.

darrensurrey

I don't need any report to tell me the thread title is true - I see plenty of overweight people running marathons. I cannot run a marathon or even 1/4 of one (nor do I have any desire to run more than 5 metres so save your encouragement for someone else ) therefore they are fitter than me. And well done them!

fightininggirl

I learned this from the nutrition course on coursera.

concordancia

You know how some women suffer from PCOS and diet and exercise can help? My hormone related issues seem to be aggravated with consistent diet and exercise. As a matter of fact, the last time I gave up was because it got so bad, this time, I know if it gets bad I am old enough that they will be willing to burn it or yank it. There are benefits to being over 40!

sweetzoejane

Define consuming alcohol....in moderation.

I also need this defined.

The recommendation is no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men, on average.

cheerforsteelers

I understand that the obese tend to have more health problems than smaller people... However,

WEIGHT is not a good way to determine ones health. (I can weigh 200 lbs and be pure muscle rather than be overweight.)

Yeah I don't believe weight is the best indicator or the tell-all. I'm overweight, but I'm very active, workout with weights/cardio, don't smoke, barely drink, walk a lot. All my blood work is in excellent shape. I want to lose the weight though so it doesn't become a problem in my later years.

Rage_Phish

How many obese 90 year olds do you see around?

Um...a lot?

I highly doubt that you see a LOT of obese 90 year olds

hatethegame

Not a very good article IMHO. I could find you mountains of evidence to the contrary. Is someone that is 10-20 lbs overweight healthier that someone who is not overweight but smokes a pack of cigarettes a day? I would say yes. But to suggest that someone who is 50 or more pounds overweight is healthy just because they don't drink or smoke is wrong.

A quote from the article:

"The Health At Every Size (HAES) movement attempts to interrupt the conflation of health and thinness by arguing that, instead of using one’s girth as an indicator of one’s health, we should be focusing on eating/exercising habits and more direct health measures (like blood pressure and cholesterol)."

In MOST cases, If you have good eating/exercising habits, you will not find yourself grossly overweight.

fluffyfoxx

I agree, my Grandfather was over weight but extremely healthy died at age 99.

keshiabug1

I understand that the obese tend to have more health problems than smaller people... However,

WEIGHT is not a good way to determine ones health. (I can weigh 200 lbs and be pure muscle rather than be overweight.)

Yeah I don't believe weight is the best indicator or the tell-all. I'm overweight, but I'm very active, workout with weights/cardio, don't smoke, barely drink, walk a lot. All my blood work is in excellent shape. I want to lose the weight though so it doesn't become a problem in my later years.

I am classified as 'overweight' too... And like you I DO want to lose. I just know too many people that are considered to be a normal weight that are much more unhealthy than I am. I have learned the hard way that weight itself is not a good indicator of progress or health.

etoiles_argentees

Okay, all is good, you can be healthy and stay fat. :indifferent:

jr1985

I think "can be" is the operative term here... Yep i'm overweight, but overall pretty healthy... but who's to say that will still be the case when I'm 60... Working on getting healthier for me to give myself the best fighting chance against weight correlated diseases such as diabetes, hard disease etc.... And I wouldn't exactly complain if I just happened to get smoking hot in the process

Shadowknight137

This article is correct.

Both fat and thin people can be immensley unhealthy.

bcattoes

Define consuming alcohol....in moderation.

I also need this defined.

The recommendation is no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men, on average.

According to the CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/faqs.htm#moderateDrinking

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans,1 moderate alcohol consumption is defined as having up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. This definition is referring to the amount consumed on any single day and is not intended as an average over several days.

Though some mental health groups define recommened limits as "< 14 drinks a week and < 4 drinks per occasion for men, and < 7 drinks a week and < 3 drinks per occasion for women."