In a new study, researchers found that physical activity does not undo the negative effects of excess body weight on heart health.
This was the first nationwide analysis to show that being regularly active is not likely to eliminate the detrimental health effects of excess body fat.
The findings refute the notion that a physically active lifestyle can completely negate the deleterious effects of overweight and obesity.
The research was conducted by a team at the European University.
There is some evidence that fitness might mitigate the negative effects of excess body weight on heart health.
It has been suggested that in adults and children, being “fat but fit” might be linked to similar cardiovascular health to being “thin but unfit.”
This has led to controversial proposals for health policies to prioritize physical activity and fitness above weight loss.
In the study, the team used data from 527,662 working adults insured by a large occupational risk prevention company in Spain. The average age of participants was 42 years and 32% were women.
Participants were categorized as normal weight, overweight, or obese.
Approximately 42% of participants were normal weight, 41% were overweight, and 18% were obese. The majority were inactive (63.5%), while 12.3% were insufficiently active, and 24.2% were regularly active.
Some 30% had high cholesterol, 15% had high blood pressure, and 3% had diabetes.
The researchers found at all BMI levels, any activity was linked with a lower risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol compared to no exercise at all.
This shows that everyone, irrespective of their body weight, should be physically active to safeguard their health.
At all weights, the odds of diabetes and high blood pressure decreased as physical activity rose.
However, overweight and obese participants were at greater heart risk than their peers with normal weight, irrespective of activity levels.
As an example, compared to inactive normal-weight people, active obese people were approximately twice as likely to have high cholesterol, four times more likely to have diabetes, and five times more likely to have high blood pressure.
The findings suggest that exercise does not seem to compensate for the negative effects of excess weight. This finding was also found overall in both men and women when they were analyzed separately.
One author of the study is Dr. Alejandro Lucia of the European University.
The study is published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.
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