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If you aren't fit you're at risk of heart disease. But the research hasn't by and large been in young people - and it's still not clear whether fitness itself is giving the benefit or the things that go with it, like being less fat. It's stating the bleeding obvious that if you aren't fit you're at risk of heart disease. People who get out of puff and whose heart speeds up after only a little exercise, do have a higher chance of premature death. But the research hasn't by and large been in young people and it's still not clear whether fitness itself is giving the benefit or the things that go with it - like being less fat. A study which has followed the hearts health of several thousand young adults for nearly 20 years, has found that when statistical differences are removed, low to moderate fitness levels double the chances of developing most coronary risk factors - except high cholesterol. Those who became fitter over time halved their diabetes risk and what's called the metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X, which can precede diabetes. Obesity, though, complicated the story. Fat people were less fit and over seven years, fitter people put on less weight. People's level of fatness was so closely linked to fitness it was probably the reason for diabetes protection. Even so, fitness in young people appears to protect the heart and brain in its own right - as well as by helping us to be thinner.
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