Thin People Can Be Fat

Study: More Than Half Of "Normal Weight" Americans Actually Have Too Much Body Fat

(CBS)  Think you can tell whether people are overweight just by looking at them?

Guess again.

New research from the Mayo Clinic finds that more than half of Americans considered to be at a normal weight actually have a high percentage of body fat -- more than 20 percent for men and 30 percent for women.

Doctors call it "normal weight obesity."

Too much inside the body fat is linked to heart disease and diabetes.

On The Early Show Wednesday, Dr. Jonathan Whiteson of New York University Medical Center pointed to a colleague, Lori Butler.

"To look at her, she looks great," he said. "When you weigh her and you check her height as well through the body mass index, she comes out also at a normal range, but when you actually look beneath the skin and you look at the fat weight, then we realize that she actually has a higher percentage of body fat.

"There are different methods to test body fat. We used a technique called bio-impedance analysis. It's a fancy term. It's a very simple test. We have a little box with electrical equipment and some wires that are attached to a hand and a foot, and by turning on the machine, we're able to record the resistance of the electricity through the body, and based on that, we can tell the percentage of body water, of lean body mass muscle, and also of body fat."

Butler's was 35 percent -- too high.

She says that surprised her, and she plans to "definitely eat healthier, change my diet."

"With Lori," Whiteson sais, "this is really the only the risk factor that she has. She has a high body fat percentage. So, we need to change diet. We need and try to reduce her weight and lose some of those fat pounds. We must also make sure her blood pressure is good and diabetes is not present."

Whiteson says doctors should "think about fat testing as part of typical screening. If you don't, you are going to be fooled into thinking everything is OK, when it's not."

[wellnesbridg]

I would like to contact the young woman featured on this show. I own a Wellness Company that teaches you how to truly eat well. You dont buy food or anything like that, you learn to adjust your lifestyle. She is not different from many of my current clients who dont know how to eat well. I can teach her how.
Happy Health,
-Judi

[rational_1]

So another way of saying this is that lots of Americans are under-muscled. Too much sitting on the couch, too little exercise or hard physical labor and you end up with little muscle mass. I can see how normal weight obesity comes about. Body mass index is a joke by the way; I don''t know why anybody uses it.

[skinnyminny2]

Want to be lean? Run long distance. I run 50-60 miles a week and have such low body fat I don''t menstruate.

[gwagener]

I suspect the reverse is true, but not very common. Some people qualify as overweight or even obese by the standard height-weight and BMI, but are actually OK as is. These would be very muscular people, or people who have good muscular density inside, but flab on the surface.

[sjw1253]

"I run 50-60 miles a week and have such low body fat I don''''t menstruate. "
Previous statement is a quote from skinnyminny2...

OMG - I can''t believe you think that is healthy... If you do something to a point where you effect normal bodily functions such as menstruation - that sounds more like an anorexic response to me.

I believe very strongly in moderation of anything. I am extremely thin but am unable to exercise - thus - I know that I am at a much higher risk of many different problems (including osteoporosis)...

This is very disconcerting to me... I eat as healthy as I possibly can but it is hard for me to nourish myself as I know I need to.

[rushman71]

"Thin People Can Be Fat"

If that''s the case, then for me, at 190 lbs and 5 ft 11, I''m a friggin'' whale!!!

[rational_1]

"Thin People Can Be Fat"
If that''''s the case, then for me, at 190 lbs and 5 ft 11, I''''m a friggin'''' whale!!!
Posted by rushman71 at 02:10 PM : Apr 02, 2008

Depends. If you can bench press 250 pounds you''re just muscular and it doesn''t apply to you. On the other hand if you''re struggling to bench your Twinkies, then you''re right - you''re a whale, fatso! {grin}

[lawyertom1]

It has been known for years, based on use of fiberoptic cameras inside the body, that fat distributes differentially in people. While belly fat can be a major problem at least insofar as an association with unhealthy outcomes is concerned, not having externally obvious fat does not mean (as the article notes) that there is not a problem because of the distribution of fat about internal organs. So, healthy living is not merely a question of toning the exterior, but of taking dietary and exercise steps to reduce total body fat wherever located. As with all things physical, you can overdue it, as witnessed by the sad posting of the marathoner; this is the other extreme, and can be quite dangerous also, but for reasons not related to fat. Again, this is nothing knew, though in terms of public awareness it might be something unknown by many. A good overview on obesity: http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec12/ch156/ch156a.html?qt=body%20fat&alt=sh. A good review of exercise disorder, per our marathoner: http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/activity-disorder-too-much-little-good-thing.

[allycat533]

I would like to contact the young woman featured on this show. I own a Wellness Company that teaches you how to truly eat well. You dont buy food or anything like that, you learn to adjust your lifestyle. She is not different from many of my current clients who dont know how to eat well. I can teach her how.
Happy Health,
-Judi

Posted by wellnesbridg at 01:02 PM : Apr 02, 2008

hey judi, could you tell me how I could. I''m a lot like her, I think I look really good with clothes on but when I take them off and it''s horrible! It''s all fat and flab underneath!

[erasmus6]

"I run 50-60 miles a week and have such low body fat I don''''''''t menstruate. "
Previous statement is a quote from skinnyminny2...

OMG - I can''''t believe you think that is healthy... If you do something to a point where you effect normal bodily functions such as menstruation - that sounds more like an anorexic response to me.
Posted by sjw1253

I recall a post by skinnyminny2 awhile back where she actually said that she was anorexic.