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Skinny
People Need Exercise Too
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly everyone knows that exercise can
reduce the risk of heart disease, but people carrying around a
few extra pounds are not the only ones who need to keep moving,
study findings suggest. Even skinny couch potatoes have an increased
risk of heart disease, researchers report.
Staying trim
can reduce the risk of heart disease, but thin people are not
off the hook when it comes to exercise, according to the study's
lead author.
When looking
at a person's risk for coronary heart disease, ''you can't just
attribute it to a single factor,'' Dr. Peter T. Katzmarzyk of
York University in North York, Canada, told Reuters Health. Both
fitness and fatness come into play, according to Katzmarzyk.
``They are
both independent risk factors,'' he said.
To examine
the relationships between fitness, fatness and the risk of coronary
heart disease, Katzmarzyk and his colleagues studied 212 black
adults and 411 white adults. None of the participants had exercised
regularly in the previous six months.
At the start
of the study, the participants performed an exercise test on a
stationary bicycle and had their maximum oxygen uptake measured.
Maximum oxygen uptake reflects the amount of physical activity
a person can perform. The researchers also measured each person's
body fat percentage.
For both fitness
and fatness, the researchers divided the participants into three
groups. The researchers then used a formula developed in a previous
heart study to estimate each person's future risk of coronary
heart disease.
Not surprisingly,
heavier participants had a higher risk of heart disease, the researchers
report in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the journal
of the American College of Sports Medicine. Compared with the
thinnest people in the study, the risk of heart disease was 83%
and 70% higher in people with moderate or high levels of body
fat, respectively.
But fitness
levels had a substantial impact on the risk of heart disease,
too. Compared with people with the highest oxygen uptake, those
with moderate and low levels of aerobic fitness were 29% and 62%
more likely to develop heart disease, according to the researchers.
``The results
indicate that both fatness and aerobic fitness are important determinants
of risk for future coronary heart disease,'' Katzmarzyk and his
colleagues state.
In the interview,
Katzmarzyk noted that some people have been saying that it is
okay for people to be overweight and healthy as long as they exercise.
The study shows that for good heart health, the best approach
is to focus on being physically active as well as on keeping weight
under control, he said.
``You have
to also watch your weight,'' he said. As for people who do not
need to lose weight, exercise is still important, according to
Katzmarzyk, since physical activity appears to have health benefits
besides weight loss.
SOURCE:
Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2001;33:585-590.
Reference
Source 89
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