ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 6, 1996 TAG: 9611060097
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: BILL BASKERVILL ASSOCIATED PRESS
Thin might be in, but at least one researcher believes you can be fit and fat.
Doctors and popular American culture have perpetuated the belief that being overweight is unhealthy. University of Virginia Professor Glenn Gaesser, however, has spent much of the past decade sifting evidence that he says shows little connection between body weight and health.
Good health can be achieved simply by exercising more and eating more healthful foods, he said. ``Aside from the extremes, weight itself is irrelevant.''
Among his findings:
* Obesity doesn't cause fat-clogged arteries.
* Overweight men and women who exercise regularly have a lower risk for premature death than thin men and women who do not exercise.
* For many people, weights above those recommended by height-weight tables are actually better for health and longevity.
* Weight fluctuation or yo-yo dieting may ultimately be fatal because of the damage it does to the vascular system.
``If you can take an overweight person with health problems and get rid of the health problems and not the weight, why continue to harangue them?'' Gaesser said. ``If they are in good health, why should we call them obese or overweight?''
He said that when fat people die it is often blamed on their weight. ``The question is, did someone die from a heart attack because he was fat, or did he die from a heart attack because he didn't exercise one bit and had an absolutely horrible diet.''
Gaesser cited a Duke University study in the 1980s in which about 600 obese men and women completed a low-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise program lasting at least four weeks.
All were still markedly obese by the end of the regimen, but all reduced their blood pressure and lowered their blood fat levels to near-normal measurements, he said.
Gaesser, who is lean, lanky and never had a weight problem himself, is an unlikely champion of fat people.
``I can't even get inside the mind of a person who has undergone this kind of persecution and discrimination,'' said Gaesser, author of the recently published ``Big Fat Lies: The Truth About Your Weight and Your Health.''
The origins of the ``fat is bad'' society can be traced to 1951 when the U.S. Public Health Service, the American Medical Association and large health insurers joined forces to fight obesity after concluding that health risks are associated with fat.
Schools have pounded home that message since the 1950s, Gaesser said. ``Consequently, most physicians uncritically trumpet the mainstream view, and the myth gets perpetuated.''
One of the most prevalent health problems associated with obesity is clogged coronary arteries.
Doctors measure artery fat with coronary angiograms, and Gaesser said he looked at every angiographic study on the relationship between obstructed arteries and body fat.
``More than half show no relationship between obesity and the degree to which arteries are clogged,'' he said.
The largest study - of 4,500 men and women between the ages of 30 to 70 - found that ``the fattest had the cleanest arteries,'' Gaesser said. ``This is absolutely, totally opposite from what we would expect.''
He said autopsy studies of coronary arteries also showed no relationship between obesity and blocked arteries.
Dr. Harvey Sugerman said he thinks most of Gaesser's conclusions are erroneous. ``You can come up with statistics to support any argument,'' he said. ``The major studies have shown an increase in cardiovascular risk with obesity.''
Sugerman is a Medical College of Virginia surgeon who has performed more than 1,600 obesity operations. He agreed that someone doesn't have to be at an ideal body weight to be healthy. But fat, especially around the middle, is a health hazard even for people who exercise, Sugerman said.
Gaesser also argues that height-weight tables should be ignored because it is impossible to establish an ideal weight. ``If there were such a thing as a perfect weight table that could tell each of us exactly what we should weigh, then I would say it has value. But no such table exists, nor is it likely that such a table will ever exist.''
What is important is maintaining a natural weight - defined as when someone is exercising and eating a relatively low-fat nutritious diet while not doing anything to control their weight.
``I'm not advocating that thin people need to fatten up. I'm advocating a healthy lifestyle,'' he said.
Wayne Miller, a professor in the exercise science program at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., said he agreed with most of Gaesser's findings.
``I think we need to take another look and separate out the fat from the lifestyle,'' Miller said.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. AP< Glenn Gaesser is the author of ``Big Fat Lies:by CNBThe Truth About Your Weight and Your Health.'' color
2. Gaesser's book advocates a healthy lifestyle - good diet and
exercise - rather than weight loss.