Many of us have heard the phrase “thin is healthy and overweight is unhealthy”. There is also the one about “one size fits all”. However, we should focus on being healthy. Our genes play a part in who we are, and also the nutrients that we place in our bodies, which are essential for growth and maintenance. Here Dominic Tran, ChannelNewsAsia.com, reflects on being healthy and nutrition:

“Your diet, not your body weight, is the best indicator of internal well-being, says one observer.

SYDNEY: According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 63 per cent of Australian adults are overweight or obese.

But it’s much harder to estimate how many are within a healthy weight range but have poor diets or sedentary lifestyles. These can cause significant health problems that will often be missed because the person appears to look “healthy”.

 

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Obesity statistics often take estimates of body fat using body mass index (BMI). Although BMI isn’t perfectly correlated with body fat percentage, it’s a quick and easy method for collecting data using just the person’s height and weight.

If the BMI is higher than 25, a person is considered “overweight”. If it’s above 30, they’re considered “obese”. But BMI doesn’t tell us how healthy someone is on the inside.

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Using additional lifestyle measures, such as diet and exercise frequency over the last year, a recent report from the Queensland Health department estimated 23 per cent of those who are not currently overweight or obese are at risk of being so in the future.

These figures indicate that the percentage of unhealthy-weight individuals does not accurately capture the percentage of unhealthy-lifestyle individuals, with the latter number likely to be much higher.

NOT ABOUT STAYING LEAN

Many people think if they’re able to stay lean while eating poorly and not exercising, then that’s okay. 

But though you might appear healthy on the outside, you could have the same health concerns as overweight and obese individuals on the inside.

When considering risk factors associated with heart disease and stroke or cancer, we often think about health indicators such as smoking, cholesterol, blood pressure and body weight.

But poor diet and physical inactivity also each increase the risk for heart disease and have a role to play in the development of some cancers.

So even if you don’t smoke and you’re not overweight, being inactive and eating badly increases your risk of developing heart disease.

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Little research has been done to compare the risk diet and exercise contributes to the development of heart disease in overweight versus skinny but unhealthy individuals.

However, one study measured the risk of different lifestyle factors associated with complications following acute coronary syndrome – a sudden reduction in blood flow to the heart.

It found adherence to a healthy diet and exercise regime halved the risk of having a major complication (such as stroke or death) in the six months following the initial incident compared with non-adherence.”

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Read More … Article Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/high-fat-high-sugar-diet-being-thin-not-healthy-107952

 

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