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'Fat but fit' is a myth when it comes to heart health, new study shows - CNN
Jan 22, 2021 2 mins, 6 secs
"Our study sought to clarify the links between activity, body weight, and heart health."

Researchers used data from 527,662 working adults from Spain insured by an occupational risk prevention company, with an average age of 42.

They were put into groups according to activity level and groups by body weight: 42% of participants were normal weight, with a body mass index (BMI) of 20-24.9; 41% were overweight, BMI 25-29.9; and 18% were obese, BMI 30 or above.

Then researchers looked at their cardiovascular health by categorizing them for diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, all of which are major risk factors for stroke and heart attack.

After investigating the associations between BMI, activity level and risk factors, researchers concluded that any level of activity meant it was less likely that an individual would have any of the three risk factors compared with no exercise, with the risk of high blood pressure and diabetes decreasing with increased activity levels.

"This tells us that everyone, irrespective of their body weight, should be physically active to safeguard their health," Lucia said.

However, the study showed greater cardiovascular risk for overweight and obese participants compared with those of a normal weight, regardless of how much exercise they did.

Participants who were obese and active were twice as likely to have high cholesterol, four times as likely to have diabetes and five times as likely to have high blood pressure as those who were normal weight but inactive.

"Exercise does not seem to compensate for the negative effects of excess weight," Lucia said.

"This finding was also observed overall in both men and women when they were analysed separately."

Lucia underlined that it is "equally important" to fight obesity and inactivity.

"Weight loss should remain a primary target for health policies together with promoting active lifestyles," he said.

'We don't know what came first'

Questions remain, however, around the circumstances of those involved in the study.

"This is a cross sectional study -- all we can talk about is associations, we cannot talk about causality," Michael Pencina, vice dean for data science and information technology at Duke University School of Medicine, told CNN.

"Because it's a cross sectional study, we don't know what came first -- what this study is not telling us is, did the person who is obese and active, did they become active when they realized they were obese, and their risk factors were high?

Or were they active, and despite that, they became obese and their risk factors went up?" Pencina, who was not involved with the study, added.

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