FAT PEOPLE CAN BE AS HEALTHY AS THIN PEOPLE

I guess when I was heavier I considered myself "healthy". I exercised, had a healthy diet, and normal blood pressure but I had serious problems with my knee and i seriously think it had to do with my weight. When I lost weight and got into a healthy weight range I had no problems at all with my knee. so for me knee problems because of being overweight=unhealthy. even if i was considered "healthy" in other aspects. I think the stress weight can cause on on knees and other joints is one of the reasons I lost weight. And I really wasn't that overweight, only about 10-15 lbs. its amazing how much difference 10-15 lbs made on my knee.

surely it depends what healthy habits are adopted? and surely if one of those is eating healthier foods the person in the bmi of 30 would be moved to mid range bmi if consistently stuck to? the results are saying that someone who adopts healthier lifestyle choices will stay at a bmi of 30 and i just can't see that, encouraging people that the fact they're overweight they will less likely die early is just plain stupid

for the people on here who are doing well with their weight loss programs have adopted one or most likely two healthier habbits are on the middle of that table are probably feeling good and i completely agree being too skinny is just as dangerous as being overweight as we see more in the middle of the table

the other two ends of the table are completely unfounded.... one end you've got someone who is skinny but does nothing at all to be so they miraculously over eat and remain sedentary most days and stay skinny and the other you have someone 1/3 over their normal bmi eating salads and doing 10 mile runs every week....

EDIT also this says a bmi of 18.5 is healthy which it quite clearly isn't for the average person i have a bmi of 21/22 and feel too skinny... my ex was a bmi of 19 and was told by her doctor to put on a stone minimum so the "evidence" isn't really evidence it's just a retarded way of looking at the facts lol

As I said earlier my Mother was never overweight. She ate only food she she cooked . Perhaps she and I would go to dinner but never to those fast food places. Sometimes I wish she was heavier as he fell and broke her pubic bone. After that she needed a walker. Her independence was gone. She used to say to me, "I wish I was dead". She didn't like being dependent and weak. At 90 she got her wish. I miss her daily, but she id happy now. I am not saying extremely health people are healthy but like everything else there is moderation. No one in my family was over weight. I am due to an illness which kept be bedridden for awhile. This is why this process is difficult. And there are 89 year olds who do not have the will to live. I know quite a few people who not only passed, young, were thin and never smoked. As I said before sometimes it is not up to us.

I have a really hard time believing that article. Overweight and over fat are always unhealthy, period, end of that story!

No they are not. You are confusing risk of becoming unhealthy with actually being unhealthy.

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.

People who say that act like once they turns 80 they will just die in their sleep, or have an instanteous killer heart attack and be dead in seconds. The reality is more like what happened to my mom, woke up, ate breakfast, had a stroke. Spent 3 days in a coma, woke up to find she was paralyzed, had aphasia, double vision and was bedridden. Spent 6 mos in rehab, during which should couldn't remember the names of her children, had to wear adult diapers, couldn't read, speak or write. She wasn't overweight though. She was actually underweight (98lbs), sedentary, a 2pack of day smoker with only borderline high blood pressure - and she was only 53. That's what it's like to have medical issues when you are older, you are stuck in a hospital that even with good care, only offers marginal care. It's having your children change your diapers. It's not being able to speak for yourself because you have an inability to articulate your thoughts. It means no more clothing with zippers, orthopedic shoes that fit your brace, multiple medications, no alcohol, never ordering lobster or crabs in the shell, and having your steak cut for you. But don't think this means that her intelligence has lessened or been diminished - and that is one of the worst things, that the stroke has run through this point: your body is a cage that carries your brain around. But sometimes your body becomes just a cage.

Do I try to live a healthier lifestyle because of this? You bet. Because it's a lottery. I may be lucky and be able to live a long life without having to do anything special by way of diet, exercise, lifestyle. Or I may do everything and have it not be enough to keep medical issues from cropping up. But I don't know which way it will go. If eating right and exercising gives me 10 -5 extra years before my first stroke, then hey I'm gratefult --but even better if it prevents me from ever having one.

Because it's not the quick death that I fear. It's the long, drawn out illness, the partial recovery, and then 15-20 years after.

I think their is a difference between "healthy" and "quality of life". Yes, someone who is obese may not smoke, drink, or have diabetes. They may not have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. But if you can't walk without get winded, or do the activites that you used to enjoy, does it really matter if you are "healthy"? I don't have any risk factors but I want to have quality of life. I want to keep up with my kids, ride bikes with them, go to amusement parks without wondering if I can fit in the seat. Being "healthy" is important to me, but quality of life is essential.

I believe this is true. I am still way overweight and trying hard to lose but I do exercise reguarly and have been for years and according to my dr. I am as healthy as anyone at normal weight so other than being in the "obese" category on the scale I have no health factors that she is concerned with. Of course I'm trying my hardest to lose weight but there is something for exercising and being "fat and fit"

I think that exercising and staying as well-nourished as you can often forestalls many of the problems of obesity AND I think that if a healthy diet and healthy amounts of exercise just naturally work to keep body fat down (and to reduce it). I didn't make any drastic changes (other than to cut out sugar, wheat and simple carbs) and added a couple of hours of pool exercise and weight lifting. I made the dietary changes a couple of years ago and took off thirty-five pounds without thinking much about it. Since I added the exercise last summer, I have taken off another 17 pounds. I have lost almost 8 inches off my waist and I consider this one of the most important measurements of my loss of body fat. I have to admit that adding the exercise has made a big difference in my energy levels and just a general feeling of wellness---but that was already improving from the dietary changes alone.

Yes if it wernt for the fact that they were over weight..... over weight will always mean you are unhealthy

I think it is important to define what we mean by "overweight". My husband, who has always been a trim athlete, has also always been "overweight" by the standard tables because he has a big bone structure (a pediatrician once described his bone structure as "dinosaur bones") and is heavily muscled. He has a trim waist. Generally, what we mean by "overweight" is really over-fat. I think that is an important distinction. People who are over-fat tend to have lots of abdominal fat and health authorities say that abdominal fat is the bigger health liability (rather than the fat that women gain in their thighs and buttocks).

Yes if it wernt for the fact that they were over weight..... over weight will always mean you are unhealthy

I think it is important to define what we mean by "overweight". My husband, who has always been a trim athlete, has also always been "overweight" by the standard tables because he has a big bone structure (a pediatrician once described his bone structure as "dinosaur bones") and is heavily muscled. He has a trim waist. Generally, what we mean by "overweight" is really over-fat. I think that is an important distinction. People who are over-fat tend to have lots of abdominal fat and health authorities say that abdominal fat is the bigger health liability (rather than the fat that women gain in their thighs and buttocks).

Yep but the OP is probably referring to people who have to much weight, you husband to me does not sound over weight, just that the BMI ratio does not work in his case because he has more muscle/bone than the average person?