Physical Fitness More Important than Body Weight for Survival

I have repeatedly urged you to exercise a lot and keep your BMI (body mass index) within bounds, if you want to live a long, healthy life.  The relative importance of exercise and diet has been argued back and forth, but now it seems that fitness is more relevant than weight loss.  University of South Carolina researchers have done a study in 14,300 men and reported their findings in the journal Circulation.

The men were followed between 1974 and 202, during which time they had at least 2 physical examinations. At baseline, their average age was 44; the second exam was approximately 6 years later.  Cardiorespiratory fitness was measured by a treadmill test using metabolic equivalents (METs) at each exam, and mortality was assessed up to 11 years after the last examination.

To summarize the findings:

• ·       Improving or maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness between the two exams was associated with a lower risk of death during the observation period, even after adjustments were made for changes in the BMI.
• ·       For each 1-MET increase in fitness, the risks for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality dropped by 15% and 19%, respectively.
• ·       BMI changes were not associated with all-cause or cardiovascular mortality after adjusting for possible influence from other factors, such as a change in fitness level.

This makes it clear that, at least in this study, improving or maintaining fitness is linked to a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.  Weight control (i.e. BMI changes for the better) did not have a similar association.  So get to the gym!  But don’t fill up on ice-cream afterwards . . .