Healthily Obese and Happy

THE Body Mass Index (BMI) is an indicator of the amount of fat in your body. People with a BMI equal to or greater than 30 are classified as obese. But BMI as a tool for measuring obesity is limited in that it does not take into account age, ethnicity and built or muscle mass. The current method for assessing obesity is anthropometry, whereby the waist circumference, skinfold thickness and waist-to-hip ratio are factored in when determining obesity.

Obesity has always been linked to health issues like heart disease, sleep apnea (i.e. somebody’s breathing stopping and starting several times while sleeping), type II diabetes, cancers, stroke, and a host of other debilitating diseases. But contrary to popular beliefs, research conducted at the University of Texas, USA, appears to show that obesity does not almost always lead to ill health! What the scientists did was that they genetically engineered mouse parents so that in one set of mouse parents, the appetite suppressant hormone called leptin, was removed. This hormone tells your body when to stop eating. In another set of mouse parents, a hormone called adiponectin is overproduced (i.e. the hormone is “turned on”). This hormone is produced by the fat cells and is suspected to assist the body to maintain metabolic health by protecting it against obesity-associated diseases. The products of these two sets (i.e. leptin-deficient and overproduced-adiponectin mouse parents), had the traits of both parents. The pups ate constantly and became obese but unlike other leptin-deficient mice without adiponectin overproduction, they had healthy cholesterol and blood glucose levels, thanks to the adiponectin hormone overproduction.

Doctors have long since known that many obese people do have healthy cholesterol and blood glucose levels better than people without the obesity condition. Development of insulin resistance, which leads to diabetes is not always associated with obesity, for example people from the Caribbeans and of Indian origins do have diabetes without necessarily being obese.

It appears that the key to being obese and suffering from ill health or being obese and having good health lies in where fat is stored in your body. When excess visceral fat is stored deep in the abdomen, it leads to inflammation and fat buildup especially as seen in potbellied persons – chronic inflammation causes obesity, cancer, heart disease, etc. Whereas subcutaneous fat, which refers to fat storage under the skin quite often promotes health, for example, it stores energy required by the body during intense activities like exercises, assists in regulating body temperature, serves as protective shields to bones and muscles, etc.

Subcutaneous fat storage condition explains the phenomenon why some apparently obese people are healthier than non obese individuals. However, having a subcutaneous fat storage does not mean that you mustn’t aim for a healthier lifestyle!