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Fit or FAT

American Fitness, July, 2001

For some time now fitness experts have been preaching that dieting isn't enough, that without exercise you can't lose weight and without losing weight, you can't achieve results. The general assumption has been that benefits of diet and exercise result in corresponding changes in body composition. Recent evidence, however, suggests otherwise. But is this true? Are we judging health by appearance only?

By viewing body composition as the sole indicator of fitness, we may have been doing our clients a disservice. Some researchers are now concluding that "active obese individuals actually have lower morbidity and mortality than normal-weight individuals who are sedentary" (Blair and Brodney, 1999).

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These reports indicate we need to rethink what we are telling our clients. The failure to lose weight can be a deterrent to an overweight person who is putting in time at the gym. A focus on health, assuring such clients that they can positively affect their cardiovascular health as long as they remain active and possess a reasonable level of fitness, may be more motivational. According to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, it is probably more effective and appropriate to encourage individuals simply to become physically active, rather than encouraging them to lose weight.

Fit or FAT

American Fitness, July, 2001

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