Good to be fat and fit

Just when I put my French fries down for carrot sticks, to keep from gaining weight, a new study says that my weight is less important than my overall fitness. The New York Times reports a story suggesting that your favorite offensive lineman, weighing 320 pounds, with his gut bursting from his jersey, is actually more fit than a skinny, unfit calorie counter who has exchanged over-priced specialty coffee for food.

Last week a report in The Archives of Internal Medicine compared weight and cardiovascular risk factors among a representative sample of more than 5,400 adults. The data suggest that half of overweight people and one-third of obese people are "metabolically healthy." That means that despite their excess pounds, many overweight and obese adults have healthy levels of "good" cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and other risks for heart disease.

At the same time, about one out of four slim people - those who fall into the "healthy" weight range - actually have at least two cardiovascular risk factors typically associated with obesity, the study showed.

So here's the big secret: skinny does not always mean healthy. While it's true that obesity is associated with many health problems like type-II diabetes, heart disease, and so on, "skinny" and "fit" are not synonyms. The Times article reports a study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute demonstrating that overweight people appear to have longer life expectancies than so-called "normal weight adults" as well.

In the end, it is possible to be both fit and a little chubby. When researchers conducted treadmill tests, overweight persons have much lower heart risk than people who are slim and unfit.

A person's body mass index (B.M.I.) is actually a poor indicator of true health within a certain range. Among 2,600 adult 60-year-olds and older studied over a 12 year period, death rates among the overweight, those with a B.M.I. of 25 to 30, were slightly lower than in normal weight adults (normal B.M.I. ranges from 18.5 to 25). Once B.M.I. passed 35, death rates increased.

What does all this mean? First, while you're watching football this fall, drinking a diet Coke and eating from the vegetable tray (without the ranch dressing), don't feel sorry for the 300-pound center hiking the ball to the quarterback, even with his gut he may be more fit than you. Second, your non-exercising skinny friends who whine about not being able to gain weight are no better off. So, when you leave the gym this afternoon say "yes" to dessert after dinner guilt free!