Thin People Can Be Fat on the Inside

By scanning nearly 800 people with MRI machines to create maps of where they store fat, Dr. Jimmy Bell, a professor of molecular imaging at Imperial College in London, and his associates have shown being thin does not automatically make one healthy - or not fat. Experts think "inside fat," which surrounds vital organs, could be as dangerous as "external fat," which bulges underneath the skin.

Given this inside fat is not external obvious, many who rely on claimed health indicators such as Body Mass Index, which divides your weight by the square of your height, can be deceived. Bell's study found as many as 45% of women and 60% of men with normal BMI scores actually had excessive levels of internal fat.

While doctors are not certain of the effects of internal fat, it is thought to contribute to the risk of insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes or heart disease. The method of reducing internal fat is prescribes as the same for reducing external fat: exercise and an improved diet.

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