I’m not telling you how tall I am, but I will tell you I’m not within the “normal” range of the body mass index (BMI). Yea, that’s right. Mr. BMI man is calling me fat. And I’m not a fan of name-calling. While I could stand to lose a pound or two*, I wouldn’t consider myself out of shape. I’ve run half-marathons, work out 6 days a week and actually like to eat beets. So this leads me to think being thin isn’t necessarily a trump card for health – and several studies seem to agree with me.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, according to the LA Times, took a look at the weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, insulin resistance and other diabetic markers of more than 5,000 adults. While people in the “normal” weight group were healthiest, nearly a quarter of them were in the abnormal range. More than half of those who were overweight were also considered healthy; and so were nearly a third of the obese group.

In fact, a recent study in Germany found that those who are a little overweight live longer and are less sick than those who are thinner.

This doesn’t give you the green light to get your money’s worth on buffet night, but it does mean you can stop obsessing about your weight and focus on your health instead.



*or 10

This entry was posted by kate, on Monday, October 19, 2009. You can leave your response .