I’m sure you’ve talked to some people who are clearly overweight, but they still manage to stay very active either through exercise, work, or other methods. The question is: if they really are very active, is there a significant health benefit to losing weight? Is being physically active enough to reduce your risk of heart disease, even if you are overweight?Research, including a newly released study by researchers affiliated with Harvard agrees with what most prior research (as well as common sense) has shown. Being active does reduce your risk factors for heart disease and other illness, but it is not enough if you are also overweight. In fact, the risk of heart disease was found to be 54% higher in women who are overweight and active, versus those are active and normal weight. It was 87% higher in those active and obese.
Activity is still important. The risk for those overweight and inactive increased 88%, and those inactive and obese had a 250% greater risk of heart disease.
It’s important to note that these studies use body mass index to define overweight and obese. When BMI is applied to a population (or even a large study group), this is a good indicator of health risks associated with obesity. But when examining an individual’s risk, body fat percentage is a much better gauge. Body Mass Index does not properly take into account muscle weight, bone density, and other factors that contribute to lean weight.
The bottom line is being active is simply not enough to dramatically reduce your risk of heart disease. If you are overweight, based on your body fat percentage, you should actively begin a moderate program to lose weight. Don’t go overboard though, as the goal is to create a sustainable lifestyle, not a quick-fix diet or other short-term strategy. These short-term programs tend to cause dangerous fluctuations in weight that ultimately result in long-term weight gain instead of loss.
Calculate your body mass index with this tool. Don’t worry too much about BMI though. Next get a tape measure and calculate your body fat percentage to get a more accurate perspective.
