You can’t be fat and healthy at the same time, study finds

A new study shatters the “ health of all sizes ” myth, revealing that you can’t be both fat and healthy at the same time. Researchers warn that an active lifestyle is simply not enough to mitigate the health risks inherent in obesity, at least those related to heart health, putting many people at risk for chronic disease.

The results come from the European Society of Cardiology, which found that excess body fat puts a strain on the heart and exercise doesn’t prevent it. The findings follow earlier studies that have muddied the waters, with some reporting that fitness can help an overweight or obese person avoid the heart health complications associated with it.

This new study aimed to clarify whether this is the case, by analyzing data on more than 527,000 adults in Spain. Of the participants, 32 percent were women; the whole group had an average age of 42 years. Likewise, 42% were of normal weight, while 41% were classified as overweight and 18% were classified as obese.

Additionally, data showed that over 63% of participants had an inactive lifestyle, 24.2% had regular activity, and 12.3% were classified as “insufficiently active”. The study continues by presenting even more numbers, noting that 15% of the participants had high blood pressure, 30% had high cholesterol and 3% had been diagnosed with diabetes.

First, the good news: The study found that any level of activity, regardless of a person’s BMI, was associated with a reduced risk of developing these three aforementioned conditions. however, the study notes that overweight or obese participants had a greater risk to heart health than people of normal weight.

This risk was high at all activity levels, meaning that overweight people who were regularly active were still at considerable risk for cardiovascular problems. The study notes that a person who was obese but active had about double the risk of developing high cholesterol compared to a person who was inactive but had a normal weight.

The risk increased from there, with active obese adults having four times the chance of developing diabetes and five times the risk of high blood pressure compared to inactive adults of normal weight.

Study author Dr Alejandro Lucia said:

You cannot be “fat but healthy”. This was the first nationwide analysis to show that being regularly active is not likely to eliminate the adverse health effects of excess body fat. Our results refute the idea that a physically active lifestyle can completely negate the deleterious effects of overweight and obesity.