Do you think someone can be obese and healthy?

Why is this question even important? I think most would agree, from a health standpoint, less fat is better than more fat. Active is better than sedentary. Sweating good, lot's of sitting bad. Sure someone could be absent of disease, while being obese. However it's playing with fire, because eventually the clock keeps ticking...

Sorry but sounds like excuses to be fat. As a former fat person, the last thing I need is an excuse. Forget the BMI charts, we all know what fat, versus slender looks like.

Do you? Please give reasoning as to why or why not

Probably not. The frame of the body isn't designed to support that kind of mass which is why ALL obese people have joint and pain issues. Not to mention if the weight is "pushed" against the internal organs, it's going to affect the efficiency of how they work.

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I agree with you but dont forget for those who are also suffering from other alignments such as Chronic Lyme Disease which result in joint and pain issues....But then again thats another topic

Sure, you can be heavy and healthy. The problem is that the healthy part tends to be more temporary than with smaller folks. There are some conditions that heavier people are at increased risk for...although those are certainly not inevitable. Or even limited to fat folks.

I think there are enough studies to show the correlation between health problems with obesity but it's never absolute. These studies just show a higher "risk" but they don't mean it has to happen...like I am at higher risk of being hit by a car with my daily walking to work than my husband who rarely walks to anywhere, but it doesn't mean I will be hit by a car tomorrow...please don't beat me if this is a bad example. :flowerforyou:

It is a not quite accurate example. It impedes your body's function in many ways, your body is always working to overcome this obstacle, its more like "I'm swimming in a current against me, but I can swim as fast as average" Maybe so, but eventually your body gets tired.

As for bodybuilders classified as obese: yes all the time, most of the top level ones. Its just weight and height, so its an error prone measure, but you are going to be certain about those in this category when you see them, you dont just "happen to have so much muscle you are in the obese category". TheRock is a famous one classified as "obese" through most of his time in the spotlight, I remember a recent article stating he relatively recently got down just under the "obese" rating at 29.something, to 245lbs, AFAIK.

There are outliers in everything. Some obese people may be healthy at least for the time being and some people at a "healthy" weight are not healthy due to genes or bad health habits. However it is generally better to not be obese than to be obese. If anyone says otherwise they are fooling themselves. Just because someone is better being obese as opposed to being a drug addict, doesn't mean obesity is good. I have been been obese all my life except for a very short time where I was at the high end of overweight. I haven't had a heart attack or diabetes but I'm only 24. Most people when they are young and obese act like it's not a problem then hit 40 or 50 and surprise they have high blood pressure or diabetes. It's just generally better to be close to a healthy weight. I certainly feel better being 74 pounds lighter even though I'm still considered obese, I'm not morbidly obese anymore.

I am sure someone else has said this, but obese is usually based on height to weight comparisons. The thing is many top level athletes, not to mention many of the muscular guys here would be obese base on height to weight tables out there, but they are healthy due to eating well, exercising frequently, and having a low body fat. A better question would be can a person have a fairly high body fat percentage and still be healthy?

To me this question is a slippery slope, but I will bite! No, I do not. On the flip side, I do not think that just because someone is thin, they are healthy either. I say this because although there are plenty of obese people (myself included) who have PERFECT lab work ups (great cholesterol levels, normal triglycerides, etc),but they are still not at an optimal state of homeostasis due to the fact that body fat is stored at a surplus. Not having homeostatis=out of whack=eventual health problems. Sure, my cholesterol is fine now, but if I don't drop this weight, what will it be 5 years from now? There are also other factors to consider outside of diabetes and blood pressure...such as, irritation and inflammation of the joints and muscle tissues. To me, health equals a body doing what it is supposed to do...and storing excess fat (imo) is not one of them!

Agree!

I'll bite...and base on my own personal history and stats.

Female, 5'7", currently about 170 lbs, highest weight was 260 lbs about 4 years ago. I had been obese for about 18 years prior to that - started gaining weight during my senior year of high school, tried several diets, some semi-successful but I never got below 190 all those years.

Body fat percent when last measured was 33.2%. Depending on your info source, I'm either right on the edge of normal/obese or just slightly into the obese category. http://www.builtlean.com/2010/08/03/ideal-body-fat-percentage-chart/

According to BMI, I'm just barely overweight - currently 26.6, "normal" goes as high as 24.9.

When I was around 200 pounds, for the most part I felt ok. My cholesterol was borderline high but we chalked that up to family history of heart disease and not so great diet. I was fairly active, helping my husband do things like haul wood and we were active with some hiking and kayaking. However, when I was 260 and creeping up to that point, I'll be honest and say I really felt it. My cholesterol was getting higher, my blood pressure was getting higher and I got sick a lot more often than I do now. We weren't kayaking anymore but hauling wood was much harder work. I could barely clean the house without having to take mutliple breaks.

In fact, one thing that finally got me thinking about losing weight once and for all was going to Boston for the weekend with my besties and realizing I couldn't keep up with them anymore. I wasn't just the chubby girl anymore, I was seriously obese and really starting to pay the price for letting myself get there.

I guess what I'm saying is that I think it depends on just how obese you are and what your lifestyle is. If you eat fairly well but just too much and are active but not active enough, you'll probably be mostly healthy but not as healthy as you could be. If you sit on the couch all day eating cheetos and drinking soda, you're probably not that healthy at all

I started at 50lbs over the top of my BMI healthy range (top end).

Now I'd say I look/looked overweight, but not "obese".

I run 10km's, I play soccer twice a week, I go to the gym twice a week, over the summer I regularly do 100km rides, so I'm quite "fit".

Healthy however is a different question, I have a good resting heart rate, but you'd have to assume that being overweight, I'm more at risk to certain illness, especially diabetes with an often spiked influx of sugars and fats.

According to BMI I was Obese, I think if you asked 99% of people in the street, they'd say I could lose a bit of weight, but wouldn't fall anywhere near the usual perception of what "Obese" is.

Also to add, physically, I'm not average, I'm incredibly large framed and 6ft 5 tall, so always going to be "heavier" than most.

Cheers

According to both my BMI and body fa t% I'm obese but AT THE MOMENT I'm healthy. I work out six days a week and eat well.

I've recently had my bloods done and all my levels are very good and even have low blood pressure. However I'm not naive to believe that this will last into the future.

As a person who enjoys looking into stats etc i know there are factors that make a person obese and also have a long term affect on their health. A high fat diet causes both weight gain and damage to organs and circulatory systems. How often are the factors causing weight gain also causing unhealthiness? If you have someone who eats a very healthy diet but just too much of it they are likely to gain weight but less likely to have problems caused directly from their diet. If studies are carried out on 100 people who are obese and 90% of them have a bad diet is it possible to tell what damage is done by being overweight and what is done by poor diet? I dont know the stats nut I guess someone who is of a good weight but eats a very high fat diet with little exercise has more chance of having a heart attack then someone who is obese but eats a low fat diet and exercises regularly.

I'm not saying the answer is yes or no but the fact that it is a very complicated issue and YES I do believe being a 'healthy' weight is important for long term health otherwise I would not be on here.

I totally agree with both the inflammation and living on borrowed time concepts.

no, being FAT or Obese or whatever is NOT healthy..clearly this is based upon the idea the person has a FAT or OBESE BMI...clearly there are people who are very muscular and per the charts they are overweight, however they are more muscle then anything....for this website-Obese should not be in the same category as healthy

So, skipping all other responses so you will have to forgive me if it has already said.

It was possible in the past but it is no longer possible now if you are an American.

If you are obese than you are not healthy.

In the dictionary, being healthy is the state of being free from illness or injury.

Late last year the AMA declared obesity a disease.

That said, since it is now a disease and the definition of healthy is being free of illness then by definition, you are not healthy.

You are an unhealthy fatty mc fat fat with two options:
A. Loose weight
B. Cross over the US border and be healthy again.

EDIT: According to BMI standards, I am likewise a fatty.