Fat but fit ‘is a modern myth’
Unfit slim people have less risk to heart health
BEING ‘fat but fit’ puts you at greater risk of heart problems than people of normal weight who don’t exercise at all, researchers have found.
They warned that physical activity does not undo the negative effects of excess body weight on heart health.
Active obese people are twice as likely to have high cholesterol and five times more likely to have high blood pressure than those who do not exercise but are a healthy weight.
As a result, weight loss should remain a ‘primary target’ for anyone overweight who wants to become healthier.
It was thought the heart health of those who are fat but fit might be similar to that of people who are thin but unfit. Dr Alejandro Lucia, one of the study authors from the European University in Madrid, said: ‘This has led to controversial proposals for health policies to prioritise physical activity and fitness above weight loss.’
To test the idea, researchers analysed data from more than half a million adults categorised by body weight and activity levels including regularly active (the minimum exercise recommended for adults by the World Health Organisation – at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderateintensity physical activity per week, or at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise per week), insufficiently active, and no exercise at all.
To examine cardiovascular health, they looked at three major risk factors for heart attack and stroke – diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Their results, published in the European Society of Cardiology journal, found at all weight levels any activity was linked with a lower likelihood of diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol compared to no exercise at all. But overweight and obese participants were at greater cardiovascular risk than peers of normal weight, regardless of how much exercise they did.
Compared to inactive people of normal weight, active obese people were about twice as likely to have high cholesterol, four times more likely to have diabetes and five times more likely to have high blood pressure. Dr Lucia said that at all weights the odds of diabetes and high blood pressure fell as activity rose, but he added: ‘Exercise does not seem to compensate for the negative effects of excess weight. One cannot be fat but healthy.
‘ Our findings refute the notion that a physically active lifestyle can completely negate the deleterious effects of overweight and obesity. Fighting obesity and inactivity is equally important. Weight loss should remain a primary target for health policies.’