Fitness trumps fatness in longevity study:
Men and women who were fit, as judged by a treadmill test, but were overweight or obese had a lower mortality risk than those of normal weight but low fitness levels, the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed.Exercise expert Steven Blair of the University of South Carolina and colleagues tracked about 2,600 people age 60 and up, examining how physical fitness and body fat affected their death rates over 12 years.
Those in the lowest fifth in terms of fitness had a death rate four times higher than participants ranked in the top fifth for fitness.
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The researchers assessed the fitness of the participants using a treadmill test, seeing how long they could walk while the treadmill’s incline increased. They measured body mass index — calculated from a person’s weight and height — as well as waist circumference and body fat percentage.The study showed that even a modest effort to improve physical activity can provide health benefits, the researchers said. Those in the bottom fifth in terms of fitness were about twice as likely to die than those in the next fifth.