For someone who has worked with patients of all body types and sizes for many years, these findings are not surprising. I've had and continue to have many patients with high body mass indexes who are very healthy people. They eat well, exercise, and have a good outlook on life. They have good immune systems and are able to enjoy life as much as anyone else.
I also have patients with normal BMIs who do not enjoy such health. In some cases their health problems can be directly attributed to the methods they use to keep their weight down. Often they are victims of yo-yo diets or diets with pour nutritional content. Some people smoke just to keep their weight in check. Others punish their bodies with harmful levels of exercise. The scale may indicate they are healthy, but they are not.
In a society where thin and uberthin are worshiped, carrying extra weight has a real stigma. But from a health standpoint, it's not about what the scale says, it's about how well the body functions. Healthy people are able to do the things in life they need and want to do. Health is not the absence of symptoms or disease. Lead a healthy lifestyle and let the scale take care of itself.
2 comments:
Yes, society does worship thin, and it is literally killing far too many people. The advertising industry needs to change radically, as do a lot of people's viewpoint of what is a healthy weight. There is beauty in every body type-since all are created in God's image.
Thanks again for your insights! Looking at weight alone is very one dimensional and as the research shows it is not an accurate test of health. We indeed need to look at the whole person.
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