Why being Slim Doesn’t Automatically mean You’re Healthy
Being slim doesn't automatically mean you're healthy, but scientists and doctors, politicians and the media are all quite prepared to accept that obesity levels have reached a crisis point. Obesity is apparently placing great strain on health services as well as having a detrimental impact on the economy, and so many governments in the West are trying to find the best way of dealing with the issue of obesity, even if it is not people's actual weight that is at the root of the problem.
Indeed, it is people's lifestyles which put them at greater risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and an assortment of other health problems. Obese individuals don't necessarily lead an unhealthy lifestyle, but this is presumed to be the case because clearly they are heavier than what is considered to be healthy according to the Body Mass Index (BMI).
The BMI has become popular as a way of determining whether a person is a healthy weight or not, but is severely flawed since it doesn't take into account an individual's frame or fat and muscle composition - it simply involves measuring their height and comparing this to their weight. The BMI is divided into different categories, from underweight at the lower end of the scale to morbidly obese at the higher end. Some people may well find that they fall into the 'obese' category, but should a person be worried about their health if they also happen to be a professional sportsman who spends a great deal of his time training and eating the right diet? Clearly, then, weight isn't always the best indicator of the kind of lifestyle a person chooses to lead.
Indeed, there are slim individuals who smoke cigarettes and regularly binge drink, eating what they want and doing very little exercise. They might be lucky enough to have 'thin' genes or happen to have a faster than average metabolism, but being thin certainly doesn't make them healthy.
Unfortunately, though, there seems to be an assumption that being fat is generally bad whilst being thin is good, an idea which the media has helped to fuel. Instead of trying to encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyle habits they elevate the importance of being skinny. Some individuals therefore spend their time trying to lose weight, using any available methods, such as diet pills, to lose weight rather than focusing on their overall health and well-being. Consequently, they can actually end up endangering their health in the pursuit of skinniness, not even considering that they might be doing so.
It is therefore evident that being slim doesn't automatically guarantee a person is as fit and healthy as they might appear to be on the outside.
Indeed, it is people's lifestyles which put them at greater risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and an assortment of other health problems. Obese individuals don't necessarily lead an unhealthy lifestyle, but this is presumed to be the case because clearly they are heavier than what is considered to be healthy according to the Body Mass Index (BMI).
The BMI has become popular as a way of determining whether a person is a healthy weight or not, but is severely flawed since it doesn't take into account an individual's frame or fat and muscle composition - it simply involves measuring their height and comparing this to their weight. The BMI is divided into different categories, from underweight at the lower end of the scale to morbidly obese at the higher end. Some people may well find that they fall into the 'obese' category, but should a person be worried about their health if they also happen to be a professional sportsman who spends a great deal of his time training and eating the right diet? Clearly, then, weight isn't always the best indicator of the kind of lifestyle a person chooses to lead.
Indeed, there are slim individuals who smoke cigarettes and regularly binge drink, eating what they want and doing very little exercise. They might be lucky enough to have 'thin' genes or happen to have a faster than average metabolism, but being thin certainly doesn't make them healthy.
Unfortunately, though, there seems to be an assumption that being fat is generally bad whilst being thin is good, an idea which the media has helped to fuel. Instead of trying to encourage people to adopt healthier lifestyle habits they elevate the importance of being skinny. Some individuals therefore spend their time trying to lose weight, using any available methods, such as diet pills, to lose weight rather than focusing on their overall health and well-being. Consequently, they can actually end up endangering their health in the pursuit of skinniness, not even considering that they might be doing so.
It is therefore evident that being slim doesn't automatically guarantee a person is as fit and healthy as they might appear to be on the outside.
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