Most people regard obese people to be generally unhealthy. Fortunately for less then a third of obese adults, this is not the case. This minority is called being “metabolically healthy obese.” Scientist think that the reason that there is a distinction between healthy and non healthy obesity stems to where the fat cells go. In metabolically healthy obese adults, the fat cells are stored behind the skin tissue where as in unhealthy adults, the fat cells are stored behind the skin tissue and into organs such as the liver, tissue, and heart. This sounds like good news for metabolically healthy obese adults but there is no clear evidence that this is or is not the “transition stage.” Most people who are deemed to be healthy obese are of younger age so in a few years that healthy stage may be transitioned to those with high blood pressure and a list of unhealthy problems.
For the picture: The fat cells of an obese person who is metabolically healthy (left) are much smaller than the engorged cells of an obese person with metabolic health problems (right).[Kirsi Pietiläinen]
