Produced by: Mohsin Shaikh
A review of 20 studies finds cardiorespiratory fitness has a greater impact on mortality risk than body weight, challenging the long-held focus on fatness over fitness.
Representative pic
Obese individuals with high fitness levels showed similar mortality risks to fit individuals of normal weight, revealing fitness as a life-extending factor.
Representative pic
Kinesiologist Nathan Weeldryer highlights how societal focus on weight over fitness misrepresents health priorities, urging a shift in public health strategies.
Credit: University of Virginia School of Medicine
Obese but fit individuals live longer than those of normal weight who are unfit, showing fitness outweighs fatness in determining health outcomes.
Representative pic
Exercise physiologist Siddhartha Angadi calls fitness a form of “medicine,” reducing risks of cardiovascular disease and early death across all body sizes.
Repetitive weight loss and gain—yo-yo dieting—poses health risks comparable to obesity, according to exercise physiologist Glenn Gaesser of Arizona State University.
Representative pic
With 1 in 8 people classified as obese worldwide, the researchers emphasize that fitness could mitigate many obesity-related health risks.
The study advocates for prioritizing exercise and physical activity in health guidelines over traditional weight-loss methods, citing longer-lasting benefits.
The comprehensive review, covering data from 398,716 participants over 43 years, was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Representative pic