Wellness Articles

It is hard to say when weight or fitness has a greater impact on overall health, so there’s really no clear-cut answer to your question.

Nonetheless, recent research indicates that we should reconsider our beliefs about weight and fitness. Being fat is not always a sign of poor health and being thin is not always a mark of physical fitness or good health.

And no matter what your size, frequent physical activity is beneficial.

A recent research study in published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2008 calls into question accepted beliefs about weight and health.

The research study found that about 25 percent of participants with averageweight had medical problems such as high blood pressure (BP), high blood sugar, and low levels of HDL-cholesterol or “good cholesterol.”

On the other hand, about 33% of obese participants were healthful in these areas. For this group, weight alone was not always a good estimate of health.

Notwithstanding, being very overweight does have its risks. A 2004 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that obese participants with a body-mass index  over 30 were more likely to die during the course of the research study , regardless of their level of exercise.

Although all the participants were female nurses, scientists have found similar leads to men.

All that being said, fitness is certainly more complex than maintaining a particular weight. the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends regular physical activity that includes moderate exercise 5 or more days a week, for at least 30 minutes each day.

As reported by the CDC, physical fitness is measured by heart and lung performance, muscular endurance and strength, flexibility, and body composition (ratio of “lean mass” to fat). Fascinatingly, weight and BMI are not included.

So it seems that weight does matter, but not always in the way we expect. the bottom line is that “fitness” and “weight” mean different things for different people , but hitting the gym or taking a brisk walk several times each week is sure to do a (fat or thin) body good.