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The conclusion of the actual study doesn't exactly align with the title here. The title gives the impression being active is pointless which isn't true. > “Fig

The conclusion of the actual study doesn't exactly align with the title here. The title gives the impression being active is pointless which isn't true. > “Fighting obesity and inactivity is equally important; it should be a joint battle. Weight loss should remain a primary target for health policies together with promoting active lifestyles.” For a lot of people, increasing activity is something they can manage even when weight loss is a struggle. Obviously being skinny and active is the ideal, but being heavy and active is vastly better than being heavy and sedentary.

graeme 6y ago
Check out this slide. Shows a big step change in health at every increase in weight level, regardless of activity: https://academic.oup.com/view-large/figure/225496940/zwaa151f1.tif https://academic.oup.com/view-large/figure/225496940/zwaa151... The title seems accurate. If you’re overweight and active, you’re less healthy than normal weight and sedentary, on average. Most people would find this surprising. The title doesn’t mention activity, so I would not say it gives the impression that “being active is pointless”.
- ZephyrBlu 6y ago
  > Most people would find this surprising Really? I don't understand how people would come to the conclusion of fat + active > normal + sedentary unless they're willfully ignorant.
  - graeme 6y ago
    I could be wrong on the most, but there has been a heavy push towards arguing for fitness rather than weight loss. The healthy at any size movement is a centerpiece: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size It’s possible the movement is simply loud however and most people think weight matters more than activity. Can’t be sure. I should have edited that to “many”.
- ogre_codes 6y ago
  The title doesn't mention activity, but the actual study does. That's my point here. > I would not say it gives the impression that “being active is pointless”. If the only way to be healthy is to be skinny, what is the point of being active at all? Being healthy is a sliding scale, not an on/ off toggle. Being active and overweight is significantly better than being sedentary and overweight. Being skinny is an even bigger jump.
  - graeme 6y ago
    The study pretty clearly shows that within each group, activity helps! It’s just that the effect is not as large as weight. You’re arguing against a straw man. The full argument would be “it is pointless to try to undo the health effects of excess weight through activity alone, as an active overweight person is less healthy than a sedentary normal weight person”

graeme 6y ago

Check out this slide. Shows a big step change in health at every increase in weight level, regardless of activity: https://academic.oup.com/view-large/figure/225496940/zwaa151f1.tif https://academic.oup.com/view-large/figure/225496940/zwaa151... The title seems accurate. If you’re overweight and active, you’re less healthy than normal weight and sedentary, on average. Most people would find this surprising. The title doesn’t mention activity, so I would not say it gives the impression that “being active is pointless”.

ZephyrBlu 6y ago
> Most people would find this surprising Really? I don't understand how people would come to the conclusion of fat + active > normal + sedentary unless they're willfully ignorant.
- graeme 6y ago
  I could be wrong on the most, but there has been a heavy push towards arguing for fitness rather than weight loss. The healthy at any size movement is a centerpiece: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size It’s possible the movement is simply loud however and most people think weight matters more than activity. Can’t be sure. I should have edited that to “many”.
ogre_codes 6y ago
The title doesn't mention activity, but the actual study does. That's my point here. > I would not say it gives the impression that “being active is pointless”. If the only way to be healthy is to be skinny, what is the point of being active at all? Being healthy is a sliding scale, not an on/ off toggle. Being active and overweight is significantly better than being sedentary and overweight. Being skinny is an even bigger jump.
- graeme 6y ago
  The study pretty clearly shows that within each group, activity helps! It’s just that the effect is not as large as weight. You’re arguing against a straw man. The full argument would be “it is pointless to try to undo the health effects of excess weight through activity alone, as an active overweight person is less healthy than a sedentary normal weight person”