The Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus in Denmark, Sigrod Bjerge Gribsholt has led the study published in the Chilean Society of Obesity, which has been key to the ideas conceived around weight and health. The study focuses on body mass index (BMI), overweight, and obesity. Consequently, visceral fat is an important factor that has been carefully analyzed, as it is also linked to type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Read on to learn more.
New belief in a recent study: new notions realted to BMI
For many years, keeping a weight within the normal body mass index (BMI) range has been thought synonymous with health and longevity. Nevertheless, a new study conducted in Denmark and published on the blog of the Chilean Society of Obesity calls this belief into debate. The investigation, which studied more than 85,000 people, proves that underweight and values at the lower end of the healthy range are related to a higher danger of death than overweight or even moderate obesity. These data alludes to the fact that it is possible to be overweight but fit, as long as metabolic health remains stable and with no problem.
To learn more about the subject, we will now present the data that has been studied to gain further insight into the topic.
What the study highlits
The investigation, led by Dr. Sigrid Bjerge Gribsholt at the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, centered on information from 85,761 individuals, mostly older women. During the five-year follow-up, 8% of the participants passed away. The study showed that underweight people were almost three times more probable to die than those with a BMI in the high range of what is known as ‘normal’. It seems that those who were in the overweight range, and even in moderate obesity, did not have a truly higher risk of mortality than the reference group.
The routine was repeated even when the information were adjusted for age, sex, educational level and comorbidities, which underlined the robustness of the results. The investigators stress that one possible answer is reverse causality. In some cases, low weight is not the reason of the increased risk, but the result of an underlying disease that leads to loss of body mass and impaired health.
Next, we will share the opinions of professionals and what each person needs to keep in mind to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Be careful with this information
Profesionals advertise that these results should not be read as an excuse to ignore body weight. This is due to the fact, they say, BMI alone is the reflection of the complexity of metabolic health. The distribution of fat plays an essential play, as it is not the same to accumulate adipose tissue in the abdomen, where it surrounds the organs and influence on metabolic processes, as in the buttocks or thighs, where the impact on health is normaly less.
Thus, two people with the same BMI can have very different risks and this is very interesting. In addition, it must known that it will depend on where the fat is located. The one with more visceral fat may have type 2 diabetes or hypertension, at the same time the one with more peripheral fat may maintin metabolically healthy. Therefore, specialists and profesionals insist that the treatment of obesity should be thpught for only one person, taking into account not only the total weight, but also the distribution of fat and the presence of associated diseases.
From BMI to routines, and even each person’s lifestyle, everything must be taken into account in order to know what needs to be considered. Therefore, it is important to remember that each person is unique and that knowing ourselves is key to taking care of our health.
