Is there such a thing as healthy obesity?
Is there such a thing as healthy obesity?
The research published online by Caroline K. Kramer in the Annals of Internal Medicine, has busted the several myths stating that obesity may be healthy and gentle . This research report revealed that there may be a major flaw in many of the literature published on this topic. It concludes that even though abnormal metabolic conditions like increased blood pressure and glucose levels may not be present, there is no such thing as being healthily obese. The research shows that metabolically obese people are without a doubt at an increased risk if death as compared to normal weighted metabolically healthy people. The factors that weigh the risks are increases over time.
The myth of obesity being benign is very harmful. I too feel that this paper has a lot of significance and will help remove the paradoxes. According to Dr. Katz from Yale University, the reason some metabolically obese people seem healthy is that there are different types of weight gains and not all of them are as harmful as the other. Research shows that gaining weight in the lower extremities in women is not as harmful metabolically. Similarly if fat is increased in the liver, it has a very low level of harmfulness. But this does not overrule that they are not at increased risk. Being metabolically healthy depends on several factors that include hormones, genes, calorie intake, and the levels of activity.
Dr. Kramer concludes that weight is not a high priority factor when it comes to weighting mortality rates. If a person is metabolically obese, then there is a higher risk of mortality regardless of the weight. This is why I feel that lifestyle practices that promote overall health should be focused. Finding overall health is the goal rather than adopting a certain lifestyle just to lose weight.
References
Kramer, C. K. (2013). Are Metabolically Healthy Overweight and Obesity Benign Conditions?: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Annals of Internal Medicine , 159 (11).