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Could Your Thunder Thighs Protect You From Heart Disease?

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Move over Swine Flu...There's a new health scare in town. Did you know you could be in danger of death from heart disease if your thighs are too thin?

It's true. Or at least new research says it's true. And we all know new research is never wrong (except in the case of newer new research).

Seriously. I'm so worried about it, that I'm in my car right now on my way to get myself the sinful Angry Whopper to prevent my thighs from becoming too lean. Well, not really. I've finally rid myself of that grease filled spicy delight, and I don't dare risk getting hooked on it again. But there's always fries, ice-cream, fettuccine alfredo, or my world famous triple chocolate brownie cake (just to name a few).

Frankly, it's been a pretty long time since I've been in danger of the ill effects of thin thighs (the 80's). But that being said, we should probably address this breaking health story with the seriousness it deserves. Because if you're one of those 'thin thigh' girls, you're gonna want to figure out how to fatten those babies up before it's too late. Or maybe not.

Lets take a look at what other women are saying about this latest research.

From The LA Times Blog - Hooray for huge thighs...

The researchers, from Copenhagen University Hospital,
examined almost 3,000 people who were followed more than 12 years. The relationship between thigh size, heart disease and early death was found even after the scientists controlled for other factors, such as body fat, smoking and cholesterol levels. The study also found that cardiovascular death risk was more strongly related to thigh circumference than to waist circumference.

I wonder if they took blood pressure and heart rate into
account?  I imagine my not too thin thighs aren't going to protect me if my resting heart rate is still 110...I guess time will tell.

From Salon - Thunder Thighs May Be Good For You...

When I read the BBC headline "Large thighs 'may protect heart,'" my first response was, "Holy crap, Christmas came early!" I'm always excited to see the media reporting on studies that acknowledge the potential protective value of what's usually referred to as "excess weight", since most people can't imagine that fat could be good for anything -- but I never dreamed I'd see the day when scientists suggested big thighs might be a boon! As someone who's naturally pear-shaped and quite generously thighed, who advocates trying to be healthy in the body you've got rather than fighting to change its size, and who spent nearly 20 years despising the shape of my legs, reading a sentence like, "The team at the Copenhagen University Hospital found that those with the smallest thighs -- below 55cm -- had twice the risk of early death or serious health problems" warms my possibly somewhat
less vulnerable heart.

From Alex's Blog - Thigh Risk...

I stood in front of Mrs R. and dropped my trousers.

“What,” she said wearily, “are you doing?”

Carefully I wrapped the tape measure around my thigh.

“I’m measuring my thigh.” I said, unnecessarily. “It says here that the circumference of your thigh determines whether you will have heart disease.”

I peered at the tape.

“Oh dear… I thought as much. I’m doomed. I’ve always had scrawny thighs.”

From My Reality or At Least I Think So - Skinny Thighs Are Bad...I have proof...

At last, good news for anyone who ever despaired of
fitting into skinny jeans: Thin thighs might actually kill you. Or at least put a strain on your heart. That’s the word from Danish
researchers who studied more than 2,800 middle-aged people for up to a dozen years, only to find that those with the slimmest thighs had the highest chance of heart disease and premature death.

From Julies Health Blog - Fries For Those Skinny Thighs...

For every 10 studies that show obesity poses some sort of health risk, it seems there's one offering hope that extra weight has a protective effect.

The latest research has been spun to suggest that thunder thighs may be good for your health. But what Danish researchers actually showed in this study on BMJ.com was that people with small thighs may have a greater risk of developing heart disease or dying early.

From Jezebell - Latest Health Recommendation: Bigger Thighs...

According to a new study, people with larger thighs have a lower risk of heart disease and early death. Bonus: men apparently think overweight women are "less bitchy" than

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ajmckay 5 pts

My husband recently read these findings online and then called me over to read them for myself.  It was like he was saying, "Don't worry, sweetie, your huge thighs are a good thing."  Thanks, baby. 

http://alittlebitrocknroll.blogspot.com

Mammakaze 5 pts

Yes. A new day has dawned on my self image. As long as I can remember I have been dissatisfied with my thighs. Despite the fact that I have a small waist and reasonable breasts, I could never look past the dimples smiling up at me from my upper legs. Even when I was running three miles a day and everything else was rock solid, those thighs jiggled along to the beat of my iPod.

I blamed my genetics or that prehistoric evolutionary need to store fat in preparation of the bleak Mammoth-less winters for the "thighs of substantial size" that I have been sporting since I hit puberty.

And now...well now. I can sit back and feel good about them. No longer will I need to dress "strategically" to hide them. Or tuck them under when I am seated in a poolside lounge chair wearing a bathing suit. In fact, OUT with the board shorts! IN with the thong bikini! I will let my thighs jiggle about in the breeze, free them from the captivity of jeans and A-line skirts. I will display them for all those skinny-thighed women with tight legs to see. I will let my thighs shout from the rooftops, or from under my Daisy dukes, as the case may be,"I may be jiggly, but I'm healthy! And less likely to die as soon as you."

Or not. Know what? I don't think those skinny-legged women are going to be impressed. I think they're gonna die ( a few years sooner than me) with big fat grins on their long, lean, leggy-legged bodies.

 www.mammakaze.com ( http://www.mammakaze.com/ )

notUrtypicalGma 5 pts

i dont necessarily think they are talking about fatty thighs, HELLO! as a young girl in the thin is in, gag me with a fork era of the 80's my thighs were bigger than my peers and i was deemed thunder thighs and the like. but i had not one ounce of jiggle on my solid thighs, now of course i refuse to speak about them let alone show them. at any rate i think the thighs this study may be looking at are thighs like beyonce's and tina turner, and j-lo. those ladies make me reminisce about my thighs of the 80's. shoot tina puts us all to shame. at any rate two of my 3 daughters inherited my thighs and their legs are gorgeous. but they have also inherited my problems with bloodpressure and they are quite young, so studies scmuddies. live the best healthiest possible life you can... and eliminate the stress. those are ways to longevity, shoot i am not sure i wanna live to be too old anyway.

ughhh yeah i just read the study was done in denmark and i have heard they are some of the healthiest people in the world so yeah no fatty thighs in that study......LOL

Elana Centor 5 pts

 According to the "research" my thighs are thin enough to qualify as an indicator that I will have heart disease. But then I knew that from previous research that focused on the top part of my body-- and yes according to the findings of that earlier research, I'm highly likely to have heart disease. While Mir is a pear, I'm an Apple...thin legs are part of being an apple.

Now, what the research didn't say is what happens if I lose that thick middle and become thin  enough to no longer be in the "danger zone" for heart disease. I will still have those skinny legs...

elana
Blogher Contributing Editor,Business&CareersFunnyBusiness ( http://funnybusiness.typepad.com/funnybusiness )

Mir Kamin 6 pts

Remember when they decided a few years back that carrying your weight around your middle was a huge risk factor for heart disease? That controlling for everything else, the person with the pot-belly was more at risk than the one with junk in the trunk?

I think this study is a (flawed) riff on that. Those of us who are "pears" are at lower risk than our fellow "apples." That's all.

--
Mir Kamin
(BlogHer contributing editor)

Personal: Woulda Coulda Shoulda ( http://wouldashoulda.com/ )

Having it all with less: Want Not ( http://wantnot.net/ )