Obesity, not fitness, drives early death

Obesity is more dangerous than a lack of fitness, according to a Swedish study that busts the myth that it's okay to be fat but fit.

Obese regular exercisers are far more likely to die early than slim people who take little or no exercise.

The findings bust the myth that it's okay to be fat but fit, say Swedish researchers who tracked 1.3 million men for 30 years.

They found obese people with high levels of aerobic fitness were 30 per cent more likely to die prematurely than unfit slim people.

The findings suggest that the protective effects of high fitness against early death are reduced in obese people, say the authors of the study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.