"A Fat Rant"

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Kingswood

If everyone ate a healthy diet in moderation and got enough exercise, there would still be fat people.

Yes, but the difference is you would basically only be left with the reasonably healthy overweight people, who would not have the same risk for heart disease and other problems. It's the diseases the insurance companies don't want to cover, not the larger sizes of their clothing.

[Kingswood]

Originally Posted by Clodfobble

Yes, but the difference is you would basically only be left with the reasonably healthy overweight people, who would not have the same risk for heart disease and other problems.

That's not true, and it will be clear if I give you an example.

Suppose we have the following genes:
* gene C that predisposes someone to high cholesterol
* gene M that causes someone to be fat by way of an efficient metabolism

Someone who inherits neither will be thin and have good cholesterol levels.
Someone who inherits C will be predisposed to high cholesterol even if they are thin.
Someone who inherits M will tend to gain weight on moderate diets but will have healthy cholesterol.
Someone who inherits C and M will be fat and have high cholesterol.

Thus, your assertion is incorrect because you don't allow for other genetic factors that also affect health.

It's all a matter of the combination of genes that one inherits. In a world where everyone eats normally and gets exercise (and nobody smokes), there will still be fat people with normal cholesterol, thin people with high cholesterol, and fat people with high cholesterol.

Taken in isolation, being overweight is not a health risk. Other factors need to be present, such as a predisposition to various diseases. Nevertheless, everyone can maximise their chances of good health by eating a healthy diet, getting enough exercise and not smoking.