Being obese is not at all healthy, a new research announces.
In order to find out whether obesity had any healthy effects as claimed by some studies, researchers examined 14,828 adults from Korea who were considered metabolically healthy. No participants had heart problems. As the study was conducted in an Asian culture, the researchers described obesity as having a body mass index (BMI)of more than 25. But, in the United States people with a BMI of over 35 are considered to be obese.
The findings showed that even though the participants did not report any heart problems, the adults that were obese showed more signs of early plaque accumulation in their arteries when compared to adults with normal weights.
"Obese individuals who are considered 'healthy' because they don't currently have heart disease risk factors, should not be assumed healthy by their doctors," study author Dr Yoosoo Chang, MD, a professor at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital Total Healthcare Center Center for Cohort Studies in Seoul, Korea, said in anews release.
Several studies in the past have shown that obese people are also healthy. Some of these researchers stated that there are overweight people with normal blood pressure, cholesterol and health conditions and thus, should be considered healthy.
But, contradicting these studies, some studies showed that being overweight or obese increases risk of developing these conditions even though they may not be present at the moment. This study's findings add more proof that there is no such thing as "metabolically healthy obesity."
"This concept of healthy obesity came in the last 10 years," Dr. Caroline Kramer, who was involved in another report about obesity, commented. "Some studies report that if you are obese but metabolically healthy, you are protected in a way. We don't think that that is true. And I don't think it will come as much of a surprise."
The study was published in the 'Journal of the American College of Cardiology.'
