Physical activity can offset some of the harmful health consequences of being overweight but cannot fully erase them, according to the biggest study to examine the relative benefits of being fit vs. fat.
The study of more than 115,000 female nurses found that weight and activity levels are both powerful predictors of longevity, and that being either overweight or sedentary independently increases the risk of death.
But the study concluded that the healthiest people are those who are both thin and physically active, a blow to those who have argued that fitness is more important than fatness and can offset the risks of being overweight.
Women who were obese and inactive had the highest mortality rate -- 2.4 times that of women who were thin and active. Those who were physically active despite being obese were still nearly twice as likely to die as those who were lean and active.
"Physical activity reduces the effects of being overweight, but it's far from removing all the increased risk associated with obesity," said Frank Hu, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study being published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. "This data does not support the hypothesis that if you are physically active, you don't have to worry about your weight."
Proponents of fitness welcomed the findings that physical activity is important but questioned the conclusion that being overweight and healthy were mutually exclusive.
"We live in a society where it's 'obesity, obesity, obesity,' and we're missing the point. Obesity is a symptom of poor behavior, which is physical inactivity and poor diet," said Timothy S. Church, medical director of the Cooper Institute, a Dallas research center that focuses on fitness. "I'm still convinced it is possible to be overweight, active and healthy."
But other experts said the new findings provide the most compelling evidence to date that while physical activity helps, any excess weight carries risks.
"You really can't override the adverse effects of being overweight merely by being fit," said Arthur Frank, an obesity expert at George Washington University. "You can mitigate it to some extent but not completely."
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight, including one-third who are obese, raising alarm that the nation is facing a public health crisis, because being overweight increases the risk for a host of health problems, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
A small but vocal cadre of researchers has argued that while being overweight can increase the risk for health problems, there has been too much emphasis on losing weight, which is very difficult for most people, and not enough on increasing physical activity, which is more attainable and could be more important.
The new study involved data collected between 1976 and 2000 on 116,564 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, an ongoing project in which thousands of nurses are being tracked for years to study various factors affecting health. Those who were physically active for at least 3 1/2 hours each week were considered active -- and therefore fit. Lean was defined as having a body mass index -- a standard measurement of height and weight -- below 25.
The results show that "physical activity attenuates the effects of obesity, but it's far from removing all the increased mortality associated with obesity," Hu said.
That held true for women who were overweight but not obese. Women who were overweight and inactive had a 64 percent elevated risk of mortality, compared with 28 percent higher risk for those who were overweight but active.
Being lean did not completely eliminate the risk associated with being inactive. Thin women who were sedentary had a 55 percent increased risk of dying compared with thin women who were physically active.
"This suggests that physical activity is important, even if you are lean," Hu said. "Just because you are thin doesn't mean it's okay to be sedentary."
Even though the study involved only women, the researchers said previous data suggest the findings probably hold true for men, as well.
For fitness advocates, the findings validated the importance of physical activity.
"This puts physical activity on par with obesity. That to me is critical. We see more and more people talking about physical activity for the sake of physical activity," Church said. "These data show that there are health benefits associated with physical activity at any weight."
Glenn A. Gaesser, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville who questions many assumptions about obesity, said the researchers did not consider whether those who were overweight had gained and lost weight repeatedly or taken diet drugs, which could account for the findings.
"Much of the health problems of the overweight could very well be due to weight fluctuation or the use of weight-loss medication," Gaesser said.
More important, most people have great difficulty losing weight, while it is much more practical for them to become active.
"It's far easier to get a fat person fit than it is to get a fat person slim," Gaesser said. "I think you'll have much more success going with a physical activity recommendation."
Louis J. Aronne, president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, said that it is clear that both fitness and fatness are important.
"It's clearly not either fit or fat that's important, but both," he said. "They both carry value."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20488-2004Dec22.html
The study of more than 115,000 female nurses found that weight and activity levels are both powerful predictors of longevity, and that being either overweight or sedentary independently increases the risk of death.
But the study concluded that the healthiest people are those who are both thin and physically active, a blow to those who have argued that fitness is more important than fatness and can offset the risks of being overweight.
Women who were obese and inactive had the highest mortality rate -- 2.4 times that of women who were thin and active. Those who were physically active despite being obese were still nearly twice as likely to die as those who were lean and active.
"Physical activity reduces the effects of being overweight, but it's far from removing all the increased risk associated with obesity," said Frank Hu, an associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study being published in today's New England Journal of Medicine. "This data does not support the hypothesis that if you are physically active, you don't have to worry about your weight."
Proponents of fitness welcomed the findings that physical activity is important but questioned the conclusion that being overweight and healthy were mutually exclusive.
"We live in a society where it's 'obesity, obesity, obesity,' and we're missing the point. Obesity is a symptom of poor behavior, which is physical inactivity and poor diet," said Timothy S. Church, medical director of the Cooper Institute, a Dallas research center that focuses on fitness. "I'm still convinced it is possible to be overweight, active and healthy."
But other experts said the new findings provide the most compelling evidence to date that while physical activity helps, any excess weight carries risks.
"You really can't override the adverse effects of being overweight merely by being fit," said Arthur Frank, an obesity expert at George Washington University. "You can mitigate it to some extent but not completely."
More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight, including one-third who are obese, raising alarm that the nation is facing a public health crisis, because being overweight increases the risk for a host of health problems, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
A small but vocal cadre of researchers has argued that while being overweight can increase the risk for health problems, there has been too much emphasis on losing weight, which is very difficult for most people, and not enough on increasing physical activity, which is more attainable and could be more important.
The new study involved data collected between 1976 and 2000 on 116,564 women participating in the Nurses' Health Study, an ongoing project in which thousands of nurses are being tracked for years to study various factors affecting health. Those who were physically active for at least 3 1/2 hours each week were considered active -- and therefore fit. Lean was defined as having a body mass index -- a standard measurement of height and weight -- below 25.
The results show that "physical activity attenuates the effects of obesity, but it's far from removing all the increased mortality associated with obesity," Hu said.
That held true for women who were overweight but not obese. Women who were overweight and inactive had a 64 percent elevated risk of mortality, compared with 28 percent higher risk for those who were overweight but active.
Being lean did not completely eliminate the risk associated with being inactive. Thin women who were sedentary had a 55 percent increased risk of dying compared with thin women who were physically active.
"This suggests that physical activity is important, even if you are lean," Hu said. "Just because you are thin doesn't mean it's okay to be sedentary."
Even though the study involved only women, the researchers said previous data suggest the findings probably hold true for men, as well.
For fitness advocates, the findings validated the importance of physical activity.
"This puts physical activity on par with obesity. That to me is critical. We see more and more people talking about physical activity for the sake of physical activity," Church said. "These data show that there are health benefits associated with physical activity at any weight."
Glenn A. Gaesser, a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville who questions many assumptions about obesity, said the researchers did not consider whether those who were overweight had gained and lost weight repeatedly or taken diet drugs, which could account for the findings.
"Much of the health problems of the overweight could very well be due to weight fluctuation or the use of weight-loss medication," Gaesser said.
More important, most people have great difficulty losing weight, while it is much more practical for them to become active.
"It's far easier to get a fat person fit than it is to get a fat person slim," Gaesser said. "I think you'll have much more success going with a physical activity recommendation."
Louis J. Aronne, president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, said that it is clear that both fitness and fatness are important.
"It's clearly not either fit or fat that's important, but both," he said. "They both carry value."
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20488-2004Dec22.html
i need to have an excercising PARTNER to get me off my ass although im only a few lbs overweight for my height 
