A new paper is calling for an end to the term ‘healthy obesity’ – a phrase used to denote individuals who are apparently healthy despite being obese. The term originated in the 1980s and was used to describe overweight people who did not suffer from metabolic complications like hypertension or diabetes.
In the journal Annals of Human Biology, Dr. William Johnson, from the School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University, said the term is being misleading and flawed and distracts from what should be the real focus of research: understanding the causes and consequences of varying health among people with the same BMI.