We live in a society obsessed about weight and size. There is always a new trend on how to lose weight and eat healthy. With so much information people become misled as some of theinformation we come across are just myths, we are about to debunk the first food and health myth today.
No; being “fat” doesn’t necessarily mean you are unhealthy and being thin is not a confirmation of good health either. Though people who are overweight and obese are shown to be predispose to cardiovascular diseases, here are reasons why size is not a perfect test for health;
BMI is ratio used to measure body fat by dividing weight over the square of height. This has a loophole since people with high muscle mass like athletes will appear overweight or obese on the BMI scale and will be considered unhealthy while they are truly one of the healthiest set of people. BMI doesn’t take into account one’s muscle mass, body shape and gender etc.
Studies show that genetics is the highest factor that predicts weight, shape and size. Some bodies are genetically designed to be bigger and some smaller. People are born with larger thighs, and necks. No matter how much exercise one does, they can never weigh below their body’s set off point. This is one of the reasons why some people diet and exercise and never seem to cut down. Chill, you might be healthy.
People might look overweight due to predisposing medical conditions like stress, depression, hormonal imbalance and many others. More to that, Dear Africans, our “thick” brothers and sisters are not unhealthy; they are just what they are. Men and especially women can happen to have bigger hips, thighs and breast. This has no scientific relationship to being physically inactive, clumsy or unhealthy. It’s a body shape.
Slim people can be bulimic, anorexic or just physically in active. Skinny people can have high cholesterol. “Obese” people can have normal cholesterol. Have you ever wondered why a certain skinny friend of yours can eat so much unhealthy food and still not gain an ounce of weight? It’s totally normal. If they don’t move as much as they eat, they are probably unhealthy. You don’t just see it.
Simple accurate test of how healthy you are can be how many flights of stairs can you take without being tired?, how long can you trek?, how much exercise can you do in one sitting?, how high can you climb? These will show you just how healthy your heart is and it is perfectly accurate.
FoodieQueen