Can you be fat but fit? This is an extremely sensitive issue and most often not discussed openly. Telling someone that they have gained weight or that they are looking chubbier is often enough to upset people. Some people may be eating healthy or exercising but are still not lean or thin
Are you Metabolically Healthy Obese (MHO)?
Metabolically Healthy Obese, are people who might be overweight or fall under fat but fit category. They don’t normally suffer from high risk of cardiovascular diseases like stroke, attack, hypertension etc. They are considered fit and active similar to people falling under normal health category. People who are Metabolically Healthy Obese have a high body mass index between 25.5-29.9. BMI (Body Mass Index) measures your weight in respect to your height.
Being active with a healthy diet, people in the MHO category are at lesser risk of developing non communicable diseases (diabetes, cardio vascular diseases etc) as compared to inactive counterparts. Maintaining a low BMI helps in prevention of many diseases in the future. Only being overweight or obese cannot be considered as an independent factor of risk.
Advantages of being a MHO
The disadvantages of MHO individuals far outweigh its advantages. Individuals with MHO have a low risk of mortality and Cardio Vascular Disease compared to those unfit obese individuals.
Risks of being a MHO
- Being a Metabolically Healthy Obese still puts you under a health risk category where chances of developing a diseases in future maybe higher.
- Studies show that such people have a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes in later stages of life.
- Considering the metabolic health and obesity status of a person with MHO, hypertension is prevalent in such individuals.
- Progressive renal function loss, chronic kidney diseases are high in individuals with MHO.
- Excessive weight in an individual leads to degeneration of weight bearing knee joints, affect due to postural disorientation and can also cause respiratory problem
Being fat doesn’t necessarily mean you are unhealthy, but it doesn’t take time and carelessness for it to manifest into something unpleasant. Keeping an active lifestyle with moderate exercises a minimum of 3-5 times a week along with a healthy and fresh diet will keep us fit and healthy and disease free in long run.