Fat on the inside

10th May 2007

posted in Fat Bias, Fitness/Exercise, Health/Nutrition |

You know the old saying ‘inside every fat woman is a thin woman screaming to get out?’

Apparently, inside some thin women are fat women screaming to get out. The Associated Press reports today that even thin people can be fat on the inside, possessing internal fat surrounding vital organs like the heart, liver or pancreas.

This internal fat – invisible to the naked eye – is being dubbed TOFIs, or people who are “thin outside, fat inside,” by researchers at Imperial College, London who are conducting the study.

“The whole concept of being fat needs to be redefined,” said Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at the college. “Being thin doesn’t automatically mean you’re not fat.”

The article goes on to report that even people with normal BMIs can have “surprising levels of fat deposits inside.” Doctors say they worry that thin people may be lulled into falsely assuming that because they’re not overweight, they’re healthy.

This type of research marks a giant leap forward in rethinking our cultural prejudices against obesity. Simply being thin doesn’t automatically make one a good healthy card carrying member of society. Fat, active people can be healthier than their skinny, inactive counterparts, researchers are finding.

“Normal-weight persons who are sedentary and unfit are at much higher risk for mortality than obese persons who are active and fit,” said Dr. Steven Blair, an obesity expert at the University of South Carolina.

Click to Bookmark

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 10th, 2007 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Fat Bias, Fitness/Exercise, Health/Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On May 10th, 2007, PastaQueen

said:

“Being thin doesn’t automatically mean you’re not fat.”

That has got to be the weirdest quote I’ve heard all month. It sounds as non-sensical as something out of Alice in Wonderland.

posted on May 10th, 2007 at 8:14 pm

2 On May 10th, 2007, Maya's Granny

I’m such a skeptic. I find myself wondering if this isn’t the first step in a marketing campaign to get thin people to reduce their inner fat. What a boon to the weight loss industry — being able to consider the entire population a potential market!

posted on May 10th, 2007 at 8:53 pm

3 On May 11th, 2007, Neel

This is really something new in the obesity debate.That makes the entire world obese and not obese. Exercise everyone!

posted on May 11th, 2007 at 4:10 am

4 On May 11th, 2007, Rachel

Maya’s Granny and Neel: I never considered that aspect. I guess I was just so excited about research which presents the idea that fat people can also be fit and healthy. You don’t hear that very often.

SlimFast for everyone! Wonder how they’ll show the before and after photos.

posted on May 11th, 2007 at 7:13 pm

5 On May 12th, 2007, Kelly

I saw an image of an MRI in an article about this that showed the fat deposits around the internal organs. I would love to get one of those MRI’s. So interesting.

posted on May 12th, 2007 at 3:54 am