No matter what the president recently about exercise — that it’s a waste of time because humans are born with a finite supply of energy, basically — “fat but fit” is a not a look you should be trying to achieve.
A new study from the University of Birmingham, presented at a congress on obesity in Portugal, suggests that obese people are more at risk for heart failure and strokes even if they show no warning signs like high blood pressure.
This study covered 3.5 million people over a ten-year period, utilizing health records from a general practice database in the UK. The results were pretty stark: Obese individuals had a 50% higher risk of coronary heart disease, and 7% higher risk of cerebrovascular disease.
While researchers admitted using body mass index (BMI) as a barometer for determining obesity was “crude” and occasionally misleading, the overall findings were considered sound.
“What was new from this study for me is that it showed that people who were overweight or obese were at increased risk of heart disease even though they may have been healthy in every other respect,” said Dr. Mike Knapton of the British Heart Foundation. “Just being overweight puts you at increased risk of heart attack and stroke.”
No word on the health effects of Dad Bod, though.
Main image via Ian MacNicol/Getty
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