# Obese but healthy.



## SocialbFly (Sep 15, 2008)

I loved this article, it was from Dr Weil's news letter...



Obese But Healthy?

A surprisingly large proportion of overweight and obese people appear to have no increase in heart disease risk. At the same time, a surprisingly large percentage of normal-weight people have a cluster of heart risks. Thats according to a report in the August, 2008, issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

In the study, researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, N.Y., and colleagues assessed body weight and metabolic abnormalities (including high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides and low HDL or "good" cholesterol) in 5,440 people. Participants were considered metabolically healthy if they had none or one abnormality and metabolically abnormal if they had two or more abnormalities. The result:

About 23 percent of normal-weight adults were metabolically abnormal.
About 51 percent of overweight adults were metabolically normal.
About 31 percent obese adults were metabolically normal.
Normal-weight people with metabolic abnormalities tended to be older, less physically active and have larger waists than healthy normal-weight individuals. Obese people with no metabolic abnormalities were more likely to be younger, black, more physically active and have smaller waists than those with metabolic risk factors.

The bottom line recapitulates what other data show: its far better to be active and overweight, even obese, than sedentary and normal weight. The goal of optimum health is not to be thin, but to be as healthy as you can, regardless of weight. Its very clear to me that some people are genetically programmed to carry extra pounds, and as long as they maintain their cardiovascular health through exercise, they should indeed be considered healthy.

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/WBL02105/Obese-But-Healthy.html


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## tonynyc (Sep 15, 2008)

Diana: thanks for sharing such a great article. It's nice to see a study that promotes being healthy and large. It will be interesting to see what part nutrition has to play with the results.


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## Elfcat (Sep 16, 2008)

Weil has always struck me as one of the more level-headed people in the complementary medicine field.


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## Tracy (Sep 17, 2008)

Socialbfly, thank you so much for sharing this article. I have emailed it to everyone in my office. Maybe they will take the hint- Fat can be healthy.


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