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The One Advantage of Obesity Vanishes
October 8, 2009
For years it has been thought that obesity did have one single health advantage: less risk of osteoporosis. A study by Dr. Jean-Marc Kaufman of Gent University Hospital in Belgium has now debunked that notion.
Dr. Kaufman found that men with more fat actually had smaller, thinner bones than lean men with larger muscle mass. Researchers in Kaufman’s study found that lean muscle mass exerted a positive influence on bone size. In contrast, increased fat mass was associated with smaller bones (challenging the prevalent view of a high fat mass index as protective for osteoporosis).
The reason obesity seemed to offer any protection in the first place is that overweight individuals exert more energy than their less-laden counterparts in performing daily tasks. As a result, they develop larger muscle mass, which is the real protector against osteoporosis.
Dr. Kaufman’s team determined, however, that lean muscle mass (not fat mass) is the major determinant of bone size. Once again, exercise emerges as the crucial element in the prevention of osteoporosis! Both aerobic exercise and non-aerobic weight-bearing exercise are helpful in this regard. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, July 2009
Topics: Health News