While body mass index (BMI) measures a person’s weight and height, it doesn’t give a full picture of their health. A new study found that physically fit people had the same lower risk of death, regardless of their BMI. And fit people who were overweight or obese had a lower death risk than unfit people with BMI scores.
“The risk of being unfit far exceeds the risks of carrying some extra pounds,” said Dr. Siddhartha Angadi, senior author of the study and a cardiovascular exercise physiologist at the Univ. of Virginia. “Too many folks simply view exercise as a means to expending calories whereas exercise is a powerful tool for improving cardiorespiratory, muscle and metabolic health, and often these benefits occur even in the absence of weight change.”
Dr. Angadi and his team used data from almost 400,000 people. They examined how efficiently the heart and lungs delivered oxygen to the muscles during exercise and how efficiently the muscles spent the oxygen. It is considered the best indicator of cardiovascular fitness and aerobic endurance.
Dr. Angadi believes that this research is important because “Nearly 100 percent of weight loss attempts fail after five years, and people may abandon exercise programs simply because they do not see the number on the scale change.”
Exercise may not make you lose weight. However, it will make you healthier. Your body will function better and be stronger.
“Repetitive cycles of losing and gaining weight — yo-yo dieting — are associated with numerous health risks comparable to those of obesity itself,” said exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser from Arizona State Univ. “Improving cardiorespiratory, aka aerobic, fitness may help avoid the adverse health effects.”
The researchers didn’t dismiss the health risks of obesity, which has been tied to blood pressure and blood sugar concerns as well as cancer, strokes, heart disease and liver and kidney problems. But, they are emphasizing the fact that fitness and weight are not as connected as some believe and a connection between obesity and early death is not cut and dry.
Exercise doesn’t have to have an end goal of weight loss to be beneficial. It can be a form of natural medicine that aids your overall health and wellness and improves the quality and length of your life.
