Heavy and Healthy: Obese Can Be as Fit as Thin

Study also find US has highest BMI among high-income countries

(NEWSER) - Almost half a billion adults—10% of the adult population worldwide—were obese as of 2008, a new study finds. That’s nearly twice the 1980 rate, reports Scientific American . On average, each decade has seen a body mass index inch up 0.4 to an average of 23.8 in 2008; a BMI of more than 25 is considered overweight, while more than 30 is labeled obese. "Obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are no longer Western problems or problems of wealthy nations," said a scientist. More»

Obesity brings higher risk of death in car crashes: study

(NEWSER) - Obese people face a much higher risk of death in car crashes—so doctors say we should be building overweight crash test dummies, the Daily Mail reports. A study of more than 150,000 US car crashes found that moderately obese people were 21% more likely to die in car crashes than people of normal weight, and morbidly obese people faced a 56% higher risk. More»

New study shows being chubby isn't good for you

(NEWSER) - If you think that carrying around a little extra meat on your bones might actually be good for you, think again: A new study shows that simply being overweight—not obese—is enough to put you at risk of a premature death. Researchers looked at a pool of 19 long-term studies involving 1.5 million people, mostly white, and found that overweight adults who were otherwise healthy and didn't smoke were about 13% more likely to die during the time they were studied. More»

New research is focusing less on the bathroom scale

(NEWSER) - Those carrying 10 to 15 extra pounds might be able to stop feeling guilty about the bathroom scale. A spate of studies show a little extra weight isn't such a bad thing, the Wall Street Journal concludes. In fact, it might even ward off diseases such as osteoporosis and help people look younger by, in the words of a dermatologist, "adding volume" to the face. More»

Focus, routine, exercise...and also just running around a lot

(NEWSER) - Rotund chefs like Mario Batali and Paula Deen have given way to a crop of stick-thin kitchen wizards who clearly know a thing or two about how to stay slim while being surrounded by food. The Daily Beast gets the skinny from the skinny culinary elite, and won't take "high metabolism" for an answer:

• Taste: Chefs taste their food, the operative word being "taste." Anyhow, one says, "it's possible to work an entire shift and not eat anything, since we're running around all the time." Which leads us to:
• Exercise: Whether its just a byproduct of a busy day, or a concerted gym effort, you've got to burn the calories you put in.