The Myth of Healthy Obesity

Can obesity truly be considered “healthy” simply because blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol remain within normal limits?

Modern medicine increasingly recognizes obesity as a major contributor to Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, infertility, cardiovascular disease, stroke and even certain cancers. Yet the reassuring term “healthy obesity” continues to gain acceptance.

But is the concept physiologically valid?

In my recent article, The Myth of Healthy Obesity, I argue that the absence of measurable disease today does not necessarily imply absence of ongoing metabolic injury. Human physiology is remarkably adaptive. The body can compensate silently for years before clinical disease becomes ...