Can you be fat but fit? Over the last few years a number of studies have suggested that obese people who were regular exercisers were at no greater risk of premature death than normal weight people. Now Swedish researchers say that finding is a myth. Their study of 1.3 million men showed that obese people with high levels of fitness were 30 % more likely to die before slim unfit people.

Scientists say the findings in the International Journal of Epidemiology definitively disprove the idea that being fit is sufficient to protect health, and could compensate for obesity. The research tracked men for 30 years, before coming to the conclusion that being the right weight is the most important factor for long-term health.