I was reading an article in the magazine Nutrition Health Review that was an interesting approach to health. With health food stores and products for weight loss as a multi-billion-dollar industry it was a new viewpoint on weight loss. As a runner, the main idea was that the thinner the runner, the faster they can run. When you watch marathon winners on television, the top finishers are all very thin. One of the first offers of advice to an overweight or obese person is to start running and burn off the extra calories of fat. In most cases, the practice of being active by running does lead to weight loss. The problem with the emphasis on being thin and losing weight is that as a large population of the country is increasing in size.
The article’s approach is called “Health at Every Size” and focuses on being healthy at all sizes and shapes of a person. Instead of doing exercise and activity to run a faster 5K, the person does exercise and activity to improve their health. The idea is to reject the loss of weight and be thin and healthy but promotes the idea that any size and shape can be healthy. The idea is to have acceptance of all body shapes as being a standard and not have the discrimination against a person who is overweight or fat. The idea that all sizes can be healthy has an alternative benefit in that the mental well being of an overweight person is improved as they are now more likely to be accepted by society.
While this is a good approach for an overweight person with regard to being healthy, there is the fact that being obese does lead to many health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and cancer. This is one of the reasons the push to lose weight is so prevalent. But even thin people can have these same ailments, so to blame obesity as the cause is misleading.
There is another side to this weight loss emphasis where too much weight loss can also be very unhealthy. Anorexia is a real health problem and can lead to serious results. Not eating enough to keep the body healthy, leads to the body wasting away and lowers the ability to fight infections or disease. I have known a few individuals that were avid runners that put in many miles every day but did not eat enough food to counteract the energy spent running. The result was a series of health problems that became serious. For women, one of the signs of this over exercising and not eating is the loss of their menstrual cycle.
The difference between overweight and being obese is crucial in this approach. Obesity is when there is an excess amount of fat on the body and it often leads to serious health problems. And to follow the increase of exercise and activity programs, an obese person has a much more difficult time in the initial stages. I recommend a water aerobics program where the water helps neutralize the excess weight but still allows good calorie burning exercise. Riding a bike is another activity that neutralizes the heavy weight and allows the individual to get some good exercise.
Having been in the 5K race business for many years, it is almost always the thin runner that wins the race. But when it comes down to age group awards there are a number of heavier runners that have taken home an award.
I think the focus on increasing exercise and activity for the purpose of better health is a good direction to follow rather than to improve your time in a 5K race or to look better in a swim suit. The key to this is you have to get out there and move.
