Although today's society admires a slim figure, from a health perspective, it is not that thinner is better. A few years ago, France enacted a bill to set health standards for fashion models to prohibit underweight people from working in the industry. This is called a "ban on weight loss" because of concerns about the health of the modeling industry for many years.
The United States once conducted a lifespan survey on the scale of 6 million people, which lasted as long as 40 years[1]. It was found that people with slight obesity seemed to be the healthiest, and the higher the probability of longevity[2]. This result is indeed somewhat unexpected. However, American scientists have not revealed the reason. Let's try to analyze it.
Being slightly overweight may bring these benefits to your body[3].
1. Better gastrointestinal function and more balanced nutrition.
People who are slightly obese indicate that the gastrointestinal function must not be weak, and they can better absorb the nutrients of food, and that they are not overly obese or overly weak, indicating that the metabolic function is relatively normal, the nutrition is relatively balanced, and the protein and fat distribution is relatively even.
2. Better physical fitness
Although human body fat can cause obesity, it is essential for the body, especially the internal organs. Fat can protect tissues and organs well, and can resist sudden bad consumption, and fat also helps to store various vitamins needed by the human body, because many vitamins are fat-soluble, such as vitamins that are beneficial to the eyes and mucous membranes. A. Vitamin E, which is good for protecting the heart, and vitamin D, which is good for bone growth[4].
3. Better mentality
People who remain slightly obese must not be overly obsessed with losing weight. People who can not be affected by all kinds of overwhelming bodybuilding propaganda nowadays, who maintain an optimistic attitude towards their slightly obese body, will inevitably be more calm and stable. Human emotions sound nothing to do with health. In fact, it has a great effect on human body secretion. People with a good mentality will naturally have more stable body functions.
So how do we confirm whether we are slightly obese or really obese?
There is a universal body mass index called BMI in the world, and its formula is:
- BMI=weight (kg)/height square (m)
- BMI= kg/m2
This formula can roughly show a person's degree of obesity.
Under normal circumstances, the normal body mass index of Asian adults is in the range of 18.5 to 23.9. A body weight below 18.5 is considered underweight, and a body above 23.9 is considered obese. Therefore, slightly obesity is a range that is close to the upper limit within the normal BMI range.
For example, if a woman is 160 cm tall and weighs 60 kg, according to the BMI formula, the body mass index is 23.5, which is within the normal body mass index range and is close to the upper limit of 23.9, which is considered to be slightly obese.
Everyone can calculate it by yourself according to the formula. As long as the body mass index is within the normal range and all body functions are normal, there is no need to pursue weight loss too much. Although a slightly obese body may not look perfect, health is the most important thing.
References：
[3] Weight is healthy' study criticised
[4] Recipe for a long life: overweight people have LOWER death risk