Okay, on this show I watched they had a "discussion" - not argument really, but... close... I would love to hear some opinions on this subject.
Lots of people on the show that were like 500lbs and up insisted that they were very healthy, and just happened to be obese.
So I wonder what anyone thinks about this. Can you be obese or morbidly obese and be healthy? At what point does obesity become a health risk? At 50 lbs over? 100? 450?

I am not sure how I feel yet about it. Any takers?

Okay, I *do* believe that health is not just weight. I have met a lot of unhealthy people who were size 4.

Healthy is a balanced mixture of physical, mental, and emotional health.

Now is your question, can you be obese and be in peak physically health? Probably not. Now, you can be HEALTHIER than say someone who is obese and sits on their butt all day and eats crap if you exercise and eat right but you are still not HEALTHY. I also think you can be thin and not be physically healthy at all - sit on your butt and smoke cigarettes. But the fact of the matter is that when you're 100 pounds overweight your body is strained by that extra lard. It makes your heart and joints work harder to keep you moving, and don't you wonder if your eating healthy, why aren't you thin? To paraphrase Miss Chris, "No one ever got fat eating too much broccoli!"

Pretty much ditto.

I think people do rationalize that if they aren't falling apart, they must be "healthy." But "healthy" is relative. Personally, I'd like their personal physicians to come on national TV and say that their patients who are 500 pounds are "healthy." That would be a kick.

well, when I was damn close to 300 lbs, my blood sugar was normal, my chloresterol was within normal limits (both ldl and Hdl), my blood pressure was normal, my heart rate was fine and I didn't have any problem with breathing...so who knows. I just can't imagine it it too good on the joints and bones to be walking around at 500 lbs. I do believe we are consumed with living up to an idealized number..who said 120= normal, 220=obese, but there are a lot of other things to put into the formula...height, body frame, history of health problems...my goal is 160, but according to the 'authorities' that is still considered obese (screw em') I am suppose to weigh 120 (yeah right! maybe after chemotherapy) so, healthy, I think that heavy people can be healthy, happy and active. 500 pounds, if you can be active, and all the numbers line up...groovy.

In the long run I don't think you can be that much over weight and not have some eventual health problems. Carrying all that extra weight will be a burden on your heart, knees, back, etc. You can have a healthy blood pressure and heart now, but what about after being overweight for 10 years. What about your quality of life...raising kids, sex, climbing stairs, walking around comfortably, etc.

In the long run, maintaining a healthy weight is best and should be strived for. I work with two great gals who are 200# (each) overweight and they were just saying "but at least we have our health"...now one has diabetis and the other just was diagnosed with a hole in her rectum...it will catch up with you...take it from me... with diabetis and asthma!

I have read several different articles that even an excess 10 lbs starts to put strain on your joints

Just because you feel healthy or think you are healthy doesn't mean you are but being a health/diet/exercise fanatic doesn't mean you are healthy either.

A lot of people in North America look healthy but are in reality suffering from malnutrition from eating an unbalanced diet.

These people on the show that were 500 lbs and said they were healthy...did they have medical evidence to back this up?

I think you can be overweight and still be happy but at some poing the weight will affect your health.

Try walking around all day carrying a 20 pound weight. It DOES put a strain on your body, and to be 100 or more pounds overweight... YIKES!!!
I know I feel MUCH better for having lost 15 recently.

They did show one lady's doctor, but he didn't have much to say on wether or not he felt she was healthy. She had done the stomach stapling when it first came out and dropped a lot of weight, then because she did not change her diet, she gained it all back plus some. She acted pissed because no one told her she would have to change her diet in order to keep the weight off - DUH!!! I realize it was the 80's and all, but use some common sense.

They also talked about how doctors are not as good to overweight patients as they are to average sized patients. How hard it is to find a doctor that will look closer at you and really take the time to see what is really wrong with you instead of blaming whatever ails you on your weight.

(by the way, i have had blamed my chronic stomach problems, back problems and more on my being overweight, even though both started before i was grr)

There were doctors that said that health was not limited to weight, of course, but that being overweight does affect your health. Which I feel was pretty non-commital, they are not agreeing or disagreing.

Depends on the individual I guess, and how much overweight, For myself I know that 40 lbs ago I got out of breath more easily, and had some joint pain (partly due to hip joint loosening post-pregnancy, still have it rarely now), and had a lot of trouble running (now of course I need to not run as much due to one of my knees but that is not weight related, I think)

Lidian