Who do you think has the best Physical Health here?
And who do you think eats the least amount of vegetables?
Can you also tell who may be suffering from Disordered Eating or an Eating Disorder?
Warning - This Content May Shock You
HEALTH IS NOT DEFINED BY THE SHAPE OR SIZE OF YOUR BODY
Yes, that’s right.
It is impossible to tell how ‘healthy” a person is simply by looking at them. Yet, we repeatedly, and incorrectly, do this all the time and make judgements and assessments about the health status of an individual based on their apperance and/or weight. It’s completely inaccurate.
I can hear some of you saying, “but that can’t be right, we know that “obese” and “overweight” people have worse health outcomes than “thin” people. But, do we really know this to be true…….the answer is NO.
There is a momentual amount of evidence (high quality research I might add too) that squashes everything our brains have been bombarded with about this topic. Even as a Dietitian, I was educated extensively about why and how to manage people’s weights with diets in an attempt to make said individual “healthier”.
I totally cringe about this now, but at the time, another approach was not offered and it was naively not questioned. For this i am truly sorry, and want to publicy apologise for helping clients go on a diet which never succeeded and was never going to succeed.
Now, we know better, we know that dieting does not work, it does not make someone healthier, it does not confer health benefits, in fact, it makes health worse and pretty much all diets result in weight gain!
CAN YOU TELL HOW ACTIVE SOMEONE IS BY THE SIZE OR SHAPE OF THEIR BODY?
NO.
Assumptions that are commonly made:
People in smaller bodies exercise well
People in larger bodies do not exercise enough, if at all
CAN YOU TELL WHO HAS BETTER EATING HABITS?
NO.
Assumptions that are commonly made:
People in smaller bodies eat “right” (whatever that is)
People in larger bodies do not eat the “right” foods
HEALTHY BEHAVIOURS ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN WEIGHT
Finally, 4 scientifically proven, and simple, ways to improve health that does involve going on a diet or centre on weight at all:
1. Eat more plants
2. Eat more fruit & vegetables
3. Move a bit more
4. Sleep more
Spread the word!
Top Tips for Health:
Regular physical activity
• 33% reduction in all cause mortality1
Varied (high quality) diet
• 11-42% reduction in all cause mortality2
• (fruit and veg alone ~5% per daily serve to a max of ~25%)3
Social support
• 11-35% reduction in all cause mortality4
Being a member of a hobby or community group
• 44% reduction in all cause mortality in representative Japanese
study5
Enough sleep (5-8hrs/night)
• 12% reduction in all cause mortality compared with <5hrs6
• 30% reduction in all cause mortality compared with >8-9 hrs6
References:
1 Nocon, Marc, et al. "Association of physical activity with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis." European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation 15.3 (2008): 239-246.
2 Kurotani K, Akter S, Kashino I, Goto A, Mizoue T, Noda M, Sasazuki S, Sawada N, Tsugane S, Japan Public Health Center based Prospective Study Group. Quality of diet and mortality among Japanese men and women: Japan Public Health Center based prospective study. bmj. 2016 Mar 22;352:i1209.
3 Wang, Xia, et al. "Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies." Bmj 349 (2014): g4490.
4 Shor, Eran, David J. Roelfs, and Tamar Yogev. "The strength of family ties: A meta-analysis and meta-regression of selfreported social support and mortality." Social Networks 35.4 (2013): 626-638.
5 Minagawa, Yuka (07/2015). "Active Social Participation and Mortality Risk Among Older People in Japan Results From a Nationally Representative Sample". Research on aging (0164-0275), 37 (5), p. 481
6 Cappuccio, Francesco P., et al. "Sleep duration and all- cause mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies." Sleep 33.5 (2010): 585-592.