Fitness improves life expectancy, regardless of weight change
A recent study has found that improvements to your level of fitness – or even just preventing it from deteriorating – can reduce your risk of death, irrespective of whether you lose any weight.
Researchers from the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health in Columbia, studied 14,345 men (average age 44 years, predominantly white and middle class), observing fitness status and BMI changes.
A link between lower death risk and maintaining or improving fitness was found. Each unit of increased fitness achieved by the study subjects over a six-year period (measured as metabolic equivalent of task – MET) was linked to a 19% reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, and a 15% reduction in overall risk of death. A decrease in fitness was linked to higher death risk, but changes to BMI were not associated with alterations in risk.
Duck-chul Lee, PhD, the study's lead researcher and Lead study author and physical activity epidemiologist in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of South Carolina's Arnold School of Public Health, Columbia, said, “This is good news for people who are physically active but can't seem to lose weight. You can worry less about your weight as long as you continue to maintain or increase your fitness levels.”
Source: Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association
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