The idea that a person who is obese can still be healthy is not impossible but remaining healthy long-term is unlikely, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
For two decades, researchers analyzed the obesity-associated metabolic and cardiovascular health of more than 2,500 people, including 66 obese adults who were in good health. Factors measured to assess metabolic health included cholesterol levels, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose levels, triglycerides and insulin resistance.
Researchers found that of the 66 healthy obese adults, 32 percent had become unhealthy obese after five years and 41 percent had become unhealthy obese after 10 years, according to the study.
By the end of the 20 years, roughly half (51 percent) of the 66 adults who started as healthy obese had become unhealthy. The healthy obese adults were nearly eight times more likely to become unhealthy obese than the adults who began the study as healthy and not obese.
Only 10 percent of the adults who began as healthy obese were able to maintain that status, making their long-term stability the exception, not the norm. Metabolic deterioration is much more common than stability in healthy obese adults, according to the study.
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