A new major study has found that “metabolically healthy obese people” are still largely correlated to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. This comes following the recent awareness movement that “healthy comes in many sizes.”
The New Study
A new major study at Birmingham University has found that “metabolically healthy obese people” are still not all that healthy, as they remain at risk of cardiovascular disease. This follows the recent awareness movement that “healthy comes in many sizes.”
Researchers at the university’s “Institute of Applied Health Research” analyzed the health records of 3.5m Britons over the last 2 decades, comparing their weight, metabolic status and their risk of cardiovascular disease.
“Metabolically healthy obese” people are those who are categorized as obese, but do not suffer from health conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc.
Three metabolic abnormalities were taken into consideration during the study — diabetes, hypertension [high blood pressure] and hyperlipidaemia [high cholesterol]. A metabolically healthy person was classified as having no metabolic abnormalities,” the study said.
The study found that people in the MHO category, in comparison to those of “normal” weight, were linked to a 49 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease, 7 percent increased risk of having a stroke, and 96 percent increased risk of heart failure.
Comments On the Study
Dr Rishi Caleyachetty, the lead researcher of the study and epidemiologist at Birmingham University, commented on the findings.
“Obese individuals with no metabolic risk factors are still at a higher risk of coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and heart failure than normal weight metabolically healthy individuals,” Caleyachetty said.
“So-called ‘metabolically healthy’ obesity is clearly not a harmless condition and the term should no longer be used in order to prevent misleading individuals that obesity can be healthy.”
It is still important to note that although this was corroborated, it is still possible to find people of normal weight that are relatively healthier than “metabolically healthy obese” people in other aspects- such as anemia, nutrient deficiency, fitness etc.