Weak Fitness

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

Notwithstanding, recent research indicates that we should reconsider our beliefs about weight and fitness. Being fat isn’t always a sign of poor health and being thin isn’t always a mark of fitness or good health.

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

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

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

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

Nevertheless, 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 at the study , regardless of their level of exercise.

Although all the participants were female nurses, scientists have found similar results in men.

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

According to the CDC, physical fitness is measured by heart and lung performance, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, and body composition (ratio of “lean mass” to fat). Fascinatingly, weight and Body Mass Index 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 health club or taking a brisk walk several times a week is sure to do a (fat or thin) body good.