(HealthDay News) -- In the quest for a longer  Life, a new study suggests fit is where it's at -- even if you're fat.

    Overweight and obese seniors who were physically fit outlived their contemporaries -- even thin ones who weren't physically fit, the researchers said.

    "Cardio-respiratory fitness is a strong determinate of mortality in older men and women," said lead researcher Steven N. Blair, a professor at the University of South Carolina Arnold School of PublicHealth.

    "Older individuals need to be concerned about their fitness level," Blair added. "There is perhaps too much focus on body weight, and fitness is only an afterthought."

Adequate fitness can be achieved with 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day, such as brisk walking, regardless of your weight, Blair said.
    
    The findings are published in the Dec. 5 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

    For the study, Blair's team looked at the relationship between body fat, fitness and longevity in 2,603 men and women aged 60 and older who took part in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. During 12 years of follow-up, 450 people died.

    Among overweight people in the study, 23 percent were classified as unfit, as were 53 percent of obese people, Blair said. "You really can't tell if a person is fit by looking at them," he said.

    People who were fit were more than 50 percent less likely to die than unfit people, regardless of weight -- meaning overweight but fit people tended to outlive leaner people who weren't in good shape. And fit folks were less likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, Blair said.

    The people who died were older, had lower fitness levels, and had more cardiovascular risk factors.

    To get fit and stay fit, Blair recommends 30 minutes of moderate exercise at least five days a week. "You don't even have to do the 30 minutes all at once. Three 10-minute walks a day five days a week will get you out of this unfit category and get you at least moderately fit," he said.

    One heart expert agreed that the new study highlights the importance of being physically fit.

    "Numerous studies have provided evidence that physical fitness is associated with lower mortality risk," said Dr. Gregg C. Fonarow, a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Furthermore, while having increased body-mass index indicating obesity is associated with excess risk of mortality, this relationship is significantly attenuated in individuals who exercise and demonstrate good physical fitness.

    "Being physically fit essentially neutralized the excess mortality risk associated with obesity whereas being unfit was independently associated with excess deaths regardless of body mass or other measures of adiposity [body fat]," Fonarow added.

    （美國每日健康新聞）--一項新的研究表明保持身體健康能夠讓你活得更久--即便你有點胖。

    研究人員聲稱，那些老年人雖然超重、肥胖，但是他們身體健康，就會比他們的同代人更長壽--即便他們的同代人很苗條，但是身體不夠健康。

    南卡羅來納大學公共健康學院的教授，該研究的領導人Steven N. Blair說：“對于年邁的男性和女性，心肺健康是決定死亡率的關鍵因素。”

    Blair補充到：“長者需要關心自己的健康水平，而現在對于體重可能太過關注了，健康倒是其次的了。”

    Blair說道，每天鍛煉30分鐘，你就可以保持健康，例如競走，不要總想著體重。

    該發現刊登在12月5日發行的《美國醫學會期刊》上。

    對于此次研究，Blair的團隊觀察2603位參加健身中心縱向研究的身材不等的60歲男性和女性，歷經12年的追蹤，450人死亡。

    該研究中體重超標的人中，23%的人歸為不健康，而屬于肥胖的則有53%，Blair說：“你真的不可以通過看一個人來辨別他是否健康。”

    那些身體健康的人比那些身體不健康的人的死亡率少了近50%，和體重無關--這意味著超重但是健康的人們比那些身材苗條但狀況不佳的人活得長。Blair說道，這些健康的人罹患心血管疾病的風險因素更低，例如高血壓、高膽固醇和糖尿病。

    那些死去的人，年紀大、健康狀況不佳，罹患心血管疾病的風險因素較高。

    為了能夠變得健康并保持健康，Blair建議一周中至少有五天要做30分鐘適當的鍛煉。他說：“你不用一下子就做30分鐘。每天分三次各走十分鐘路，一周運動五天，那樣你就可以脫離不健康，至少能夠保持適當的健康。”

    一位心臟方面的專家贊同該新研究突出身體健康的重要性。

    洛杉磯加州大學心臟病學的教授Gregg C. Fonarow博士說：“許多研究證明身體健康能降低死亡率。此外，當身體肥胖指數上升時，死亡率也會劇增，而那些做鍛煉且身體狀況良好的人的死亡率則明顯較低。”

    Fonarow補充到：“身體健康從根本上減少了和肥胖相關的死亡風險，然而無關身材臃腫或其它肥胖傾向（身體肥胖），健康狀況不佳則和死亡率上升有著不可脫卸的關系。”