“No healthy pattern of increased weight”

It has previously been suggested that some obese people can be healthy. Certainly, many enjoy and active life and appear healthy. But, does overweight and obesity increase the risk of cardiovascular events and death? To study this further, researchers at University of Toronto evaluated 8 studies with a total of 61,386 participants and grouped them into 6 BMI/metabolic status categories: "BMI (normal weight/overweight/obesity) and metabolic status (healthy/unhealthy)." Healthy vs. unhealthy was "defined by the presence or absence of components of the metabolic syndrome by Adult Treatment Panel III or International Diabetes Federation criteria."

Not surprisingly the researchers found the group with lowest risk was the nomal weight were metabolically healthy group. The normal weight metabolically unhealthy, and the overweight, or obese had an "elevated risk all-cause mortality and/or cardiovascular events." The authors concluded:

"Compared with metabolically healthy normal-weight individuals, obese persons are at increased risk for adverse long-term outcomes events in the absence of metabolic abnormalities, suggesting that there is no healthy pattern of increased weight."

Source: Are Metabolically Healthy Overweight and Obesity Benign Conditions?: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

PubMed: Aerobic fitness improves academic performance in 4th to 8th grade students

"Aerobic fitness was a significant predictor of academic performance; weight status was not. Although decreasing BMI for an overweight or obese child undoubtedly improves overall health, results indicated all students benefit academically from being aerobically fit regardless of weight or free/reduced lunch status. Therefore, to improve academic performance, school systems should focus on the aerobic fitness of every student."

Evidence that aerobic fitness is more salient than weight status in predicting standardized math and reading outcomes in fourth- through eighth-grade students.

Reducing the risk of endometrial cancer

A recent report by the World Cancer Research Fund titled FOOD, NUTRITION, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND ENDOMETRIAL CANCER 2013 provides additional support for a Paleo approach to nutrition and fitness:

The evidence that greater body fatness (reflected by BMI, measures of abdominal girth and adult weight gain) is a cause of endometrial cancer is convincing. Glycaemic load is probably a cause of endometrial cancer, and physical activity and coffee both probably protect against this cancer.

Evidence for non-starchy vegetables and red meat was no longer suggestive of an association and was too limited to draw a conclusion.

Cognitive decline in obesity

Obesity (a BMI of 30 or more) increases problems with memory and thinking, a condition also known as cognitive decline. Pauline Anderson, writing for Medscape Neurology MedPulseNews, notes:

It has been known for some time that obese patients face relatively fast cognitive decline, but recent research has suggested that if such patients are metabolically healthy, either naturally or through the use of medications, they may escape some adverse health effects…

However, a new study published in the August 21 issue of Neurology shows otherwise. While cognitive decline occurs faster in those with metabolic abnormalities such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, the decline in cognitive function 10 years following baseline assessments were similar in the metabolically normal and abnormal groups. Anderson quotes study author Dr. Archana Singh-Manoux: 

We know that lower BMI is protective; that if your BMI is under 25, you have the slowest cognitive decline. So lower BMI is a good idea, but this notion that you can have a high BMI, and if your metabolic health is good, you'd be okay doesn't seem to be supported in our paper.

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