This is from a Tara Parker-Pope article in The New York Times. It is better to be fat and fit than skinny and unfit.
Half of overweight people and one-third of obese people are "metabolically healthy." That means that despite their excess pounds, many overweight and obese adults have healthy levels of "good" cholesterol, blood pressure, blood glucose and other risks for heart disease.
At the same time, about one out of four slim people – those who fall into the "healthy" weight range – actually have at least two cardiovascular risk factors typically associated with obesity.
See the NCPA’s Daily Policy Digest today. Michael Phelps breaks all the rules on healthy eating.
Have you heard the latest from alabama the state wants to charge their state employee’s who are overweight 25 dollars a month extra for health insurance. my problem with this is what about the person who isn’t overwieght but has high blood pressure they run the cost of insurance up. I don;t think they should be allowed to do this it is big brother interfering in our lives.
Also, the state of Alabama is charging overwieght employees higher premiums.
There is an NBER study that concludes that all the fitness programs designed to encourage weight control are mainly focused on people who are simply overweight. These programs are unlikely to work for people who are really obese. And they project that the number of obese people is going to soar. Link:
http://www.ncpathinktank.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=16917