According to a recent report, obesity is not healthy. Many people believe that despite being overweight, they are still healthy because of the type of food they eat. The issue is the amount of that healthy food they are eating. The report makes it clear that being overweight is dangerous. Research from the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute of Cancer Research shows that obesity is as dangerous as smoking, as it is linked to a number of cancers.
The Canadian study, which involved a number of men and women who were overweight or obese according to their BMI, showed that those who were overweight were more at risk of heart attacks and strokes. However, some of those participants had healthy metabolic levels, including the blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Results from the study show that it is possible to be overweight or obese and not suffer from the normal issues of high blood pressure, high bad cholesterol and high blood sugar. This is mostly due to choice of food and raises the question whether it is possible to be healthy and obese. However, while they are healthy according to the metabolic figures, they are still more at risk of cancers, ailments and death when compared to those who have a normal and healthy BMI.
The study involved 61,000 people, mostly between the ages of 40 and 50 by the end. Nine percent of those people were metabolically healthy, despite being obese. The people have been involved in this research for between three and 30 years to understand how weight problems affect the health.
However, the report that says people suffering from obesity are not healthy has come under criticism from a number of experts. One expert, Dr. Pieter Cohen, a Harvard Medical School assistant professor, has criticized the way that the figures have been interpreted. Cohen stated that the figures showed that one out of the nine percent of people who were “healthily” obese were “expected to die or have a heart problem” over the period of 10 years. Due to these results of the study, he believes that there is reality in being healthy and obese.
There are faults within the study itself. The information about the metabolic health was only taken once. This could have changed over the period of the research. Considering most of the participants were monitored for a 10-year period at a minimum, it is highly possible that the metabolic health deteriorated, which has led to the heart problems and negative results; not just the obesity factor.
Other studies have shown that obesity is the “new cigarette”. Body fat is linked to cancers of the breast, colon, pancreas and many other organs. Part of this is due to the estrogen production from fat cells. Estrogen is linked to breast cancer.
According to the researchers within the study, there is no such thing as healthy obesity. However, it does depend on the way that the data is read, and there are problems within the study itself. Those who eat the right food are more likely to have better metabolic health, which means a normal blood pressure and cholesterol level. Yet, it is important to note that fat cells can lead to more estrogen, which leads to a higher risk of breast cancer, among other types.
By Alexandria Ingham
US News
World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research
