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Monday, June 27, 2005

More vindication that healthy fat people do exist
Posted by Jill | 1:56 PM

Dieting doesn't make you healthier:

Overweight people who diet to reach a healthier weight are more likely to die young than those who remain fat, according to a study.
The finding needs to be backed up by further research before sweeping changes are made to public health strategies, the authors warn, but it highlights how poorly the long-term health effects of dieting are understood.

It is well proven that losing weight reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes among the obese, but the new study suggests that dieting also causes physiological damage that in the long term can outweigh the benefits.

[snip]

The study, which was carried out in Finland, followed 2,957 overweight or obese people who had been screened to ensure they had no underlying illnesses.

Overweight people have body mass indexes (BMIs) greater than 25, while obese people have BMIs greater than 30.

Each participant was questioned about their desire to lose weight in 1975 and again in 1981. Records of their weight and general health were kept for the next 18 years, during which 268 of the participants died.

Analysis of the data showed that those who wanted to lose weight and succeeded were significantly more likely to die young than those who stayed fat.

"Healthy overweight or obese subjects who try to lose weight and succeed in doing so over a six-year period suffer from almost double the risk of dying during the next 18 years compared with subjects who do not try to lose weight and whose weight remains stable," said Dr Sorensen.

Those who gained weight also had a greater risk of dying young.

The researchers were unable to identify why the dieters were at a greater risk of dying younger, but believe it is caused by fat being lost from lean organs as well as other body tissues.


I suspect that there isn't just one reason for the risk. Most people want to lose weight rapidly, hence fad dieting, which is a shock to the body. Given that weight lost through fad dieting tends to be regained, yo-yo dieting is a repeated shock to the system.

Another reason, I would guess, is the constant anxiety and self-flagellation that comes with a lifetime of judging one's worth as a human being solely on the bases of what one eats. I can't believe that the "I was good today, I was bad today" mentality of chronic dieters, and the relentless self-loathing that accompanies it, is good for one's health long term either.
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