being skinny is more unhealthy than being fat?

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  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    Or, try to be fit and healthy.
    WELL SAID!!

    Do people need to choose between "skinny" or "obese"? I think articles like this send out a message that its OK to be overweight, instead of focusing on the importance of finding some kind of happy medium, where you're both fit and healthy, but not leaning towards either extreme....
    i think that's perhaps a biased interpretation.

    i dislike dishonesty and scaremongering, regardless of how good the cause is. people should just be given flat out facts and left to decide for themselves.
    there is a disproportionate amount of good publicity for the stick thin compared to bad for the slightly chubby. and if slightly chubby is, providing they are active and eat well, no less healthy than 'healthy' weight, what right has society to judge?
    morbidly obese is another matter, though.
  • BenderFitness
    BenderFitness Posts: 349
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    BMI is a flawed scale. It is not an accurate measure of body fat. It is used because it is an easy estimate, not because it is the most accurate measure. According to BMI I am just barely shy of being overweight. It has no way to account for the increased density of muscle as compared to fat. My body fat percentage is no where close to what my BMI says it is.

    In addition, underweight is not the same thing as healthy. I did a blog post on the dangers of being "Skinny-fat" because many underweight people actually have a body fat percentage that places them in the obese category. BMI can not analyze those factors, but thin people can still be obese. Body fat percentage, health, and level of fitness are much better indicators.

    Also, working in the health care field I can tell you that how fit you are is a huge indicator in how well you will recover. Stay healthy, and stay flexible, these two things can mean the difference between being able to live independently when you get older, and requiring constant care for your basic needs (using the bathroom, getting dressed, etc).

    For anyone interested in my blog post on normal weight obesity:
    http://www.fitnessbender.com/2012/03/strong-is-new-skinny-normal-weight.html
  • mom2scc
    mom2scc Posts: 99 Member
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    i agree with all the other with no matter what, unhealthy is unhealthy. so choose healthy and you win...
  • glovepuppet
    glovepuppet Posts: 1,710 Member
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    BMI is a flawed scale. It is not an accurate measure of body fat. It is used because it is an easy estimate, not because it is the most accurate measure.
    in the uk, they weighed & measured all the school kids of a certain age, worked out the bmi, then sent letters out to parents to tell them their child was overweight or obese based entirely on this. my nephew got one, yet is nowhere near overwight. i can see ribs! fortunately his mother had more sense than to put him on a diet based on that insanity.

    there was a brief scandal in the papers. pictures of slim/normal kids with their outraged parents holding up these ridiculous letters.

    flawed indeed!
  • lauraniwa
    lauraniwa Posts: 131 Member
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    This is a link to the actual research study:
    http://www.jabfm.org/content/25/4/422.full.pdf+html

    And this is a link to Dr. Sharma's "Obesity Notes", which I though was a good comment on why the study was relevant.
    http://www.drsharma.ca/another-nail-in-bmis-coffin.html

    BMI alone has little to do with health. It was designed by insurance companies as a screening tool and has been long out dated. However, considered with other health factors it can definately paint a picture of an individuals risk. It's not like you can say "oh, my BMI is only 25, so it doesn't matter that I have high blood pressure and high cholestorol and diabetes".

    As someone said in an earlier post, unhealth is unhealthy.

    Good thread guys.
  • Puddles0308
    Puddles0308 Posts: 74
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    Being unhealthy is unhealthy. Doesn't matter which side of the spectrum you fall on.
    Took my response right out of my fingers :)
  • kalynn06
    kalynn06 Posts: 368 Member
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    This is not a shock if they included people with chronic or terminal illnesses. We tend to think of skinny people as dieting o be skinny, but a lot of people are severely underweight right before they die- cancer patients, people with other chronic diseases, those with organ failure, etc.
  • rrrbecca11
    rrrbecca11 Posts: 477
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    Great..another excuse for people to use for justifying their unhealthy lifestyles! :grumble:

    My sentiments exactly. :ohwell:
  • aubreykkkk
    aubreykkkk Posts: 147 Member
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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.
  • caraiselite
    caraiselite Posts: 2,631 Member
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    BMI is a flawed scale. It is not an accurate measure of body fat. It is used because it is an easy estimate, not because it is the most accurate measure.
    in the uk, they weighed & measured all the school kids of a certain age, worked out the bmi, then sent letters out to parents to tell them their child was overweight or obese based entirely on this. my nephew got one, yet is nowhere near overwight. i can see ribs! fortunately his mother had more sense than to put him on a diet based on that insanity.

    there was a brief scandal in the papers. pictures of slim/normal kids with their outraged parents holding up these ridiculous letters.

    flawed indeed!

    my kids got a letter in the mail stating what their BMIs were. i think it can be helpful for the parents that abuse their children by allowing them to be fat.
  • firstnamekaren
    firstnamekaren Posts: 274 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:
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
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    No matter what size you are if you don't eat right or exercise you are pretty much leading an unhealthy lifestyle...or leading to a lifestyle that in the future could cause a lot of health issues.
  • Hellbent_Heidi
    Hellbent_Heidi Posts: 3,669 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!
  • firstnamekaren
    firstnamekaren Posts: 274 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:
    Why so defensive?

    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 thought the indifference face implied....indifference. I understand opinions. I simply asked a question about yours.
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
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    Being unhealthy is unhealthy. Doesn't matter which side of the spectrum you fall on.

    THIS.

    END THREAD.
    or... how about the thread doesn't end and the conversation is left for people who actually have an interest in such things?

    NOPE THREAD IS DONE, NOTHING TO SEE HERE PEOPLE lol :)
  • spikefoot
    spikefoot Posts: 419
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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?
  • aqm22
    aqm22 Posts: 153 Member
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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.
  • Sidesteal
    Sidesteal Posts: 5,510 Member
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    Among other things, one suspicious study limitation (if I'm reading this correctly) would be their choice of 6 years as the cutoff for death.

    The conclusion you can draw from this is that there was less sudden death occurring in people of specific BMI vs others. In my opinion, you cannot conclude, without much LOLing, that this implies one is healthier than the other.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 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.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
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    :drinker: :heart: I AGREE WITH THIS STUDY

    IT IS CHEESEBURGER TIME!!1

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