From Your Health Journal…..A very interesting article from the Nigerian Tribune by Blessing Ekum entitled Slim people may not be healthy afterall!. This is an important article to read, so please visit the Tribune site to understand that thin does not necessarily mean healthy. This blog does cover many times the health risks associated with obesity such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease, asthma, and weak joints. However, researches have now shown that being slim doesn’t necessarily mean being healthy. A genetic analysis of over 75,000 people carried out by the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom showed that certain slim people with a particular genetic variant do not store fat subcutaneously (under their skin), rather fat gets stored in and around their organs (viscerally), therefore they stand a higher risk of developing Type II diabetes and heart diseases despite the fact that they are slim. This is truly a very interesting finding, and an important article to digest. Good eating habits are important for all types and sizes of people.”

From the article…..

In recent years, obesity has taken the rap as a major underlying risk factor for a horde of health problems. Cardiovascular problems, Type II diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attacks have been linked to being overweight and for most obese people, being overweight not only poses a health risk, but also has socio-psychological implications.

According to the World Health Organisation, a crude population measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI), which is a person’s weight (in kilogrammes), divided by the square of his or her height (in metres). In the November 2009 edition of the Bayero Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences, Atiku M.K of the Department of Biochemistry, Bayero University, Kano, points out that the BMI range classification as follows: BMI <16.00 (grade – 3 – underweight); BMI: 16.00 – 16.99 (grade – 2 – underweight); BMI: 17.00 – 18.49 (grade – 1 – underweight); BMI: 18.50 – 24.99 (normal); BMI: 25.00 – 29.99 (grade – 1 – overweight); BMI: 30.00 – 39.99 (grade – 2 – overweight) and BMI > 40.0 (grade – 3 – overweight)

While regimented diets and exercises and in extreme cases, pills are taken to battle being overweight, slim people are usually under the mistaken notion that since they do not have much subcutaneous fat, they do not need to exercise as exercise is strictly for overweight people looking to lose weight. Some give the excuse that they have great metabolism and so can eat food with as many calories as they want without getting fat. For some slim people, it is assumed that they can easily get away with avoiding healthy lifestyles because it does not reflect visibly on their weight. So, junk food high in saturated and/or trans fat, lack of exercise, alcohol consumption and so forth are considered okay. It is also wrongly believed that diseases whose risks are higher as a result of obesity are no cause for worry since they are not ‘physically fat’.

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