Can you be fat and fit?
Yes, you can be overweight and metabolically healthy. At the same time, we know that obesity is a disease that affects the body in many different ways. Thirteen types of cancer and 200 other health conditions are related to obesity.
However....
That isn't 12% of Obese Americans - that is 12% of Americans as a total population. A population where 40% of adults are considered obese. So, the question becomes, how many of the obese, also fall into the "metabolically healthy" category?
About 50% of people with obesity are metabolically healthy when healthy is defined as the absence of the metabolic syndrome, whereas only approximately 5% are metabolically healthy when healthy is defined as the absence of any metabolic syndrome components and normal insulin sensitivity assessed by HOMA-IR.
The latest data indicate that 39.6 percent of U.S. adults are obese. (Another 31.6 percent are overweight and 7.7 percent are severely obese.)
So, what that means is that if there are 100 people, 40 are obese, 31 are overweight, and 8 are extremely obese. That leaves 21 who would be considered normal or underweight, meaning that "normal" is not very normal at all. It also brings in some interesting numbers, because if 5% of obese people are metabolically healthy (this doesn't actually mean healthy), That means that out of the 12 people who would be considered so, around 3 of them are obese, which is 25% of the total of metabolically healthy people.
However, what any individual needs to consider, is whether they are one of the 5% who can both be obese, and metabolically healthy. And, as the first quote indicated, metabolic health is different to healthy, where there are plenty of other implications outside of this narrow definition of health, that are known to be affected by obesity.
Now, while so far this article has talked about obesity, it isn't actually about that it at all, at least not directly. it is about
Being exceptional.
We have created a culture where everyone thinks that they are unique, and as an exceptional person, the generalized rules don't apply to them. Everyone thinks that they are the ones that are the outliers, the ones who can beat the system, live outside of averages, be the superstar. And as such, there is a massive sense of entitlement that has set in, where they believe that because they are unique, they deserve to be treated in some kind of special way, that the laws of society are okay for the normal people, but for me as a unique person, I should be treated differently.
Perhaps the most widely cited statistic about human genetic diversity is that any two humans differ, on average, at about 1 in 1,000 DNA base pairs (0.1%). Human genetic diversity is substantially lower than that of many other species, including our nearest evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee.
So, as humans we are special in the sense that there is even less genetic difference between us, than there is between many other species. We are more homogenous, more similar, less diverse, less special. Yet, our belief in how different we are has led to all kinds of cultural phenomena, like identity politics and being able to create our own "personal labels" for ourselves. This means that we can stand out of the crowd, be special, be exceptional, without actually having to do anything special at all.
And, this belief in our own exceptionalism, means that we differentiate ourselves from others, isolate ourselves from others, tell ourselves that because we are different, we couldn't or shouldn't cooperate with people who are different than ourselves. Which is an incredible turn of events where after two million years of evolution where our species competitive advantage became working together with exceptional intelligence - we are now seemingly moving in the opposite direction.
Exceptional stupidity.
Using obesity as the example of many other factors, a lot of overweight people will argue that because of the potential to be fat and fit is there, being fat isn't a problem. But, this is an argument of convenience, because what they should be doing instead of arguing about the group, is reflecting on whether they as an obese person, are also fit. According to the studies, 95% of obese people can't make that claim.
So, is it better for us as an individual to work under the assumption that we are exceptional, or is it better to assume that we are very likely average in most things like everyone else? If we look at it from something like an investment perspective, is it better to aim for the exceptional result of winning the lottery to become wealthy, or is it better to take the average approach to building wealth, of investing into generative assets? If 100 people invest, and 100 people play the lottery to become wealthy, what will the results show?
Now, let's say that 1 person out of the 100 lottery players wins, the average result could mean that the average lottery player outperforms the investors. However, is that winner going to share their winnings to the other 99? Looking at the investors, it is likely there are a range of outcomes, with some winning a lot, some losing a little, but most getting something positive out of the investment strategy. One who wins a lot might be as lucky as the lottery player, but on average, no one really has to be lucky to get something.
"Being average" shouldn't be the goal though, because on average, people are overweight, people are financially struggling, people are unhealthy, people are unsatisfied, people are slightly depressed, people are emotionally uncontrolled... the list goes on.
But, we also need to look at ourselves and realize that we are likely not very exceptional at most things in our lives. We might not be exceptional at anything at all even. However, even if we are exceptionally good at something, that doesn't extrapolate out and apply to everything that is important to us in our lives. An exceptional sprinter isn't necessarily an exceptional investor, or an exceptional partner. An exceptional painter isn't automatically an exceptional politician, or exceptional teacher. Exceptionality is applied in a very narrow frame, but while we are all different, we are on average, much more similar, and across skillsets, much more average than we tend to believe ourselves to be.
I am not exceptional, I am average in pretty much everything I do, and below average in many skills that I need. It is impossible for anyone to be brilliant in everything, so we have to get comfortable with our limitations and shortcomings. But, we also shouldn't artificially create exceptional categories for ourselves, just so that we can feel special. And, we should never try to force other people to recognize our made-up category, and punish them for not adhering to our demands of entitlement.
People can believe what they want, and they can call themselves whatever they want to call themselves, but it doesn't make it true. I can tell you I am, but I am not a doctor. I can say I am fit, but that doesn't mean my body functions well. I can believe I am absolutely anything and act accordingly, but that doesn't mean you have to believe it too, or treat me in some kind of special way because I believe you should.
Thankfully, while the media and corporations have been pushing individualism and exceptionalism for decades, which has led to all kinds of antisocial outcomes, there seems to be some pushback. Some people have realized that the course of continued fragmentation that we are on, leads to isolation, extremism, and less ability to solve the problems we face as a large population, who are on average facing the same challenges in our average lives.
Most people will just focus on the "fat", not the underlying causes that lead to our society slowly crumbling, and dividing into polarized groups, each believing that they are the most exceptional.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]