Can you really be fit but fat? What ‘healthy obesity’ really means according to the experts

A new study has revealed that a quarter of middle-aged women and one in 10 middle-aged men are healthy despite being clinically obese. Before you ditch the salad and carrot juice, Leah Hardy unpicks the science of how to recognise just who is and isn’t at risk

‘Exercise plays a big role in health even if it doesn’t change your weight one gram,’ explains one neuroscientist. ‘If you are carrying muscle, you will always be healthier than someone at the same weight with less muscle’ (Getty)

Sashaying down the catwalk in stratospheric heels for Dolce and Gabbana last month, supermodel Ashley Graham was a picture of health. Her skin glowed and her thick hair tumbled around her chiselled jawline. Unsurprisingly for a catwalk model, her Instagram account shows her working out in the gym, deadlifting or doing yoga.

“I’m always at the gym,” she told one interviewer. “I probably go five times a week. However, Graham isn’t your run-of-the-mill skinny model. With a rumoured BMI of over 29, the 35-year-old mother-of-three and body-positive activist is hovering on the cusp of obesity – which starts at a BMI of 30.

But can Graham really be as healthy on the inside as she appears? After all, we are constantly warned of the risks of piling on the pounds. A study of more than 11,000 adults found that people who were overweight or obese were twice as likely to have conditions including high blood pressure, diabetes and osteoarthritis.