Obese AND Healthy?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2004
Obese AND Healthy?
8
Wed, 05-02-2007 - 1:43pm

Do you believe people can really be obese AND healthy?


 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
Wed, 05-02-2007 - 8:29pm

That's a really interesting question, and one I wrestle with myself. I'm personally not "obese and healthy" right now, that much is clear to me... but when I see people like you, Staci, who are so much more active than many thin people I know, and who eat a pretty healthy diet regularly, even though overweight, I have to question!

If health is a continuum, perhaps it's possible to be obese and healthier than might be expected (lower likelihood of morbidity or chronic illness), just as it's possible to be thin and decidedly UNhealthy. But absolutely healthy? No, probably not.

Misha
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-1999
Wed, 05-02-2007 - 8:51pm

I certainly think is possible to be overweight and maybe even obese while still having overall better health than someone who is thin.

 

 

 


iVillage Member
Registered: 02-06-2006
Thu, 05-03-2007 - 5:25am

Dion, I totally agree with you here.


Right now I feel I'm healthier than many normal-sized people. All my numbers are normal and even on the low-end of normal when it comes to colesterol and blood sugar. My dh on the other hand is diabetic and

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-06-2006
Thu, 05-03-2007 - 5:37am

Funny that I found this in my email


http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/AN01033

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-13-2004
Thu, 05-03-2007 - 9:18am
Yes you can be healthy . I always get blood work once a year and I can tell you my sugar and all that levels are absolutely great and yet I am 326 lbs and have not been under 300 since 2003
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-25-2006
Thu, 05-03-2007 - 9:24am
Yes I think you can for all the reasons Staci stated in her post. Body fat, activity level, and such plays a bigger part. At 185 I was considered obese even though I had a low body fat % and was quite active to the point of working out 5-7 times a week. So in answer yes I do think it is possible depending on many many factors!!

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Angela

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2004
Thu, 05-03-2007 - 2:33pm

That article fits perfectly with our discussion.


 


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2006
Sat, 05-05-2007 - 8:18am

I think you can be obese and healthy for a while-but that eventually the extra work your body has to do to deal with the extra weight catches up with you-heart problems, joint problems, etc. So in your thirties it doesn't seem like that big a deal but as you age it does. Ironically, my gym is owned by a local hospital, and I actually walk through the hospital to get to the gym some days. Two things always strike me-one is the people tethered to IV's who have managed to get to the outskirts of the hospital so they can have a cigarette, and the other is the number of very large people in wheelchairs in the cooridor. I am not saying that I never see small people (and sometimes you see children, which can be heartbreaking) but a high percentage seem to be heavyier, and I do sometimes wonder if weight/smoking contribute to the reason people are in the hospital.

I also think that there is a 'mental' aspect to it-that struggling with your weight-whether you are trying to lose and can't, or feeling like you should be trying to lose, but aren't-takes a toll on self image for many people. This is a very general statement, no scientific fact, not universally applicable, but I think that sometimes feeling that you are obese makes you think you deserve less-that you put up with things that if you felt better about yourself you'd never allow to happen. And that becomes part of a cycle that is not healthy. So, if you are obese but very happy with your life and how it is going, you might be OK, but if you are obese and unhappy about it, that might raise your stress level and that might make you less healthy. Hope this makes sense in some way.

SJ
225-169-135