By Marie Dufour, RD – It’s true! I’m not the arguing-fighting type, but when it comes to fighting obesity I say my piece, as I do almost everyday in this blog and on The Daily Crunch.
My posts remain generally ignored, until the other day when I wrote that obesity was 100% preventable. A reader responded that obesity was 77% inheritable and “why-would-we-starve-ourselves-to-death-cuz-big-is-beautiful?” To this followed posts that supported the myth of family-doomed obesity with “my-grand-ma-and-her-grand-ma-were-always-fat, especially after having children,” and arguments such as “if grandma had not been so-oh-my-god-FAT, she would not have lasted so long through her cancer: her fat stores made her live longer.” It all ended with a “So-marie-bug-off-our-Fat’Is’Beautiful-blog” and a “Go-crack-your-whip-elsewhere.”
But I’m back in the ring and why do I insist? Because if grandma had not been so “Oh-My-God-FAT,” she might never had developed intestinal cancer. Obesity is responsible for 8% of all cancers (WHO data.)
Why do I insist? Because, as part of a support and motivation network, I know that for every one vocal “Let Me Be Fat” shout, there are hundreds of “Help Me Be Healthy” cries… especially among middle-aged women.
Why, again, do I insist? Because being overweight at age 50 predicts overall health at age 70 (1). Based on analysis of data from the Nurses Health Study, women with a BMI of 30 at age 50 or more have only about a 20% chance of being healthy and disease-free at age 70. And it’s not just weight; it’s also central adiposity: a woman’s waist circumference of 35 inches or more is a predictor of chronic disease in later years.
What struck me in the report is that of the 17,000 participants, only 10% lived disease-free at age 70. TEN PERCENT only were free of nine chronic diseases or conditions — cancer, diabetes, congestive heart failure, COPD, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In addition, they had no evidence of cognitive impairment or limitations on physical function. Wouldn’t you want to be one of them? I do!
Unfortunately for some of us, it’s harder than for others because –as my Big Ladies pointed out– obesity is inheritable. The FTO gene has been identified as the “fat mass and obesity gene.” But this does not mean that we are doomed to being obese because our mamas were. We know things now that they didn’t know then and –I repeat– obesity is ENTIRELY PREVENTABLE.
Exercise is the key. It takes some extra effort, but exercise can trump obesity for those whose weight problem is genetic (2). In studies of adults AS WELL as children, only individuals who had sedentary lifestyles were suffering from obesity. For those who exercised an extra 900 calories per day, the FTO gene had NO EFFECT. ZERO.
How do we spend 900 calories more per day? We move. We turn the TV off, the computer off, and we move. We walk to the store or to work, join a gym, clean house, do laundry, take the stairs, bike, swim, dance, jump, pick any sport, whatever it takes to keep that FTO gene from rearing its ugly head. (For more info on calories expanded, see the Activity calorie counter).
Now, turn this computer off and …. MOVE!
References:
1 – Sun Q, et al “Adiposity and weight change in mid-life in relation to healthy survival after age 70 in women; prospective cohort study” BMJ 2009; 339: b3796.
2 – Rampersaud E, et al “Physical Activity and the Association of Common FTO Gene Variants With Body Mass Index and Obesity” Arch Intern Med 2008; 168(16): 1791-1797.
Filed under: Lifestyle, diet , cancer prevention, childhood obesity, diet, FTO gene, healthy lifestyle, Marie Dufour RD, weight control, women's Health
