Being skinny doesn鈥檛 mean you鈥檙e fit鈥攐r even healthy. found that men and women of normal weight but with high blood pressure and cholesterol levels are at risk for heart events just as dire as the obese.
The reason a thin waist is no saving grace, explains the Mayo Clinic鈥檚 Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, is that 鈥攎ore than 25 percent body weight in men, 35 percent for women.
Essentially, fat matters even if you don鈥檛 appear fat, says Dr. Lopez-Jimenez, whose main area of study is in what he calls the 鈥渟kinny obese.鈥
鈥淓xcess fat affects metabolism in ways that make it harder to use insulin and other hormones effectively,鈥 explains James O. Hill, Ph.D. Executive Director, of the University of Colorado鈥檚 Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. 鈥淭his leads to metabolic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease.鈥
The study also dispelled any myths of being both obese and healthy. At first, there appeared to be a group of obese subjects who were at low risk of cardiac event and death鈥攕tatistically similar to the healthy and normal weight folks. But when the researchers dug deeper, only looking at data with 10 years of follow up, all overweight and obese subjects appeared to have greater health risks.
It鈥檚 possible for an obese person to appear metabolically healthy and at low risk for heart disease, but being overweight and healthy isn鈥檛 a permanent station, says Hill.
What鈥檚 more, even if an obese patient registered low blood pressure and healthy cholesterol, there are more risks than heart disease; for starters, degenerative joint disease. The health of your hips, ankles, and, especially, knees, are imperiled by excess pounds.
And though the first response to turn your health around鈥攚hether you鈥檙e normal weight or obese鈥攚ould seem to be weight loss, that鈥檚 actually secondary by doctor鈥檚 order.
鈥淵our first priority is to become active,鈥 says Lopez-Jimenez. 鈥淚f somebody is obese but very active, the risk for heart attacks is same or lower than sedentary skinny person.鈥