come give me your opinion smoking v overweight v drinking !

[notsoslimnow]

ok, was hoping i could raise a light hearted healthy debate on these health issues to continue from the conversation i had with friends the other day.
so i have a friend who smokes 3 fags per day she is 28 and has done this for the last 10 years never more never less always 3.she doesn't drink regularly and has a fab figure , gorgeous skin hair etc.
i, on the other hand am the same age but about 2/3 stone overweight (have 14 month old baby)don't smoke and only the odd glass of red maybe 3/4 per week.
my friends point was she was far healthier than me , i of course disagree but please give me your opinions.am i wrong? i know smoking is very bad for health but if she only has 2 does that count?am i more unhealthy being overweight?
her father in law is a gp and has told her that smoking so little per day is of little risk if compared with obesity,drinking etc.

I think it's all a bit academic to debate the relative health merits of smoking versus overweight versus drinking. All are bad - it is, however, somewhat the luck of the draw whether or not a smoking/food/drink bad habit will adversely affect your health or not.

If you want to be on the safe(r) side, statistically, just don't go there!

think the father in law is right

but am a huge fan of smoking

I'd say your friend is healthier than you but it all depends on other factors too.

Like how much excersise each of you gets. I'll bey my money on whichever one of you does more excersie being the healthier one overall

Who can run for the bus without getting puffed out? You or her?

Obviously none are good but the answer is smoking is worse: that is why insurance companies charge huuuuuge premiums for social smokers who gave up years back but are relatively unfazed by all but the most obese.

Good point omdb.

Otherwise I don't know. I think your level of drinking is probably about as 'harmful' as her level of smoking - ie not much. But booze does add to weight.

I would say having 3 or 4 glasses of wine a week is not unhealthy. 3 fags a day probably not so bad.
Being overweight definitely not healthy.
I would go for your friend being healthier, but again it depends on so many other factors.

Agree that it is all academic- all 3 are bad.
A small amount of booze- under 14 units a week is okay for women, but no more than that, so you are okay on the booze front.

Weight is not good- how do you think your heart likes the effort of lugging around what is in effect 8 5kgs bags of spuds every day? That's your excess weight.

Smoking a small amount may not seem alot but studies do show that over time even this amount cna damage coronary arteries etc.

sorry- should say 8 5lbs ( 2 kgs) bags of spuds.

Surely once you lose the weight you are heathier than the person whose body is damaged by smoking - that takes much longer to rectify and may not rectify at all, resulting in cancer later on?

I was 2st overweight when fell preg this time and intend to carry on losing once this baby is out as I had lost 2 just before I got preg, plus I smoked quite a lot and got a bit merry once a week before preg. Am tee-total while preg and am hoping to stay this way afterwards this time.

I do not drink and do not smoke but I am obese. I had a check up for how at risk of heart problems I am and it turns out that the risk for me is 1% in the next ten years. I do a lot of walking and I suppose that although it does not seem to have any effect at all on my figure, it seems to keep my internal organs at least very fit!

I think it is the general lifestyle of someone that should be considerd, rater than just one obvious trait of it but I am no doctor and probably wrong!

So what I mean is before everyone thinks 'You think smoking is worse because you are a fatty' I ticked all the boxes until 6m ago, at the mo I tick 1 (overweight) and hope to rectify this once I have the baby.

When looking back at myself the smoking was the most pressing issue that I worried about most so when found out was preg was extra pleased as I knew I would knock the smoking on the head straight away.

GOr I think you are deluding yourself.
If you are clinically obese, you are at risk not only from CHD but also diabetes and other illnesses such as joints due to excess weight.

Who did your check up and how?

A nurse at my Gp surgery. They "invited" me because I had turned 35 and from that age they do a blood test (It incuded cholesterol level check), blood pressure every 5 years to detect people at risk of heart diseases. I think when you are over 45 they do it every 3 years.

who gets the most sleep?

who is the most cheerful and optimistic?

who has the most fulfilling occupation?

these are v underrated determinants of well-being I think

*Gor- I am sorry but just because your BP and cholesterol are within normal ranges, it doesn't mean that you are not at risk from weight-related illnesses.

They are very basic yardsticks.

If you had a full BUPA-type wellbeing check up with tests on your heart- ECG- lung capacity, pulse on resting/after exercise,BMI nad waist/hip ratio, then I'd assume it would be a very different picture

Possibly, I was just repeating what I was told at my GP surgery and they did not seem the least worried for my health. DH who is not overweight does not drink or smoke had a worse "result" than myself because for someunexplained reason his Cholesterol level is really high in spite of us eating the same food and him heating less than me.

Maybe genes are also involved?

thats really interesting.
to be honest i am out of breath very easily when running etc which i know is very bad especially at 28. i suppose though ive always thought smoking is so much of an evil that being overweight would always be looked upon more favourably.i mean lots of people are very anti smoking but there arent many who would be so opinionated to someone with weight issues.
i also know someone who drinks a bottle of wine every night but tells me i really should loose the excess weight.
i dont know, maybe each is as bad in a relative way but then again i dont know anyone who doesnt drink/eat a little too much/smoke it seems everyone has a weakness.
i looked on google and found some articles indicating smoking 3 fags per day increases the chances of heart disease more than smoking related cancers BUT it went on to say that being 2 or more stones overwieght would give a similar if not greater risk of obesity related diseases and heart disease! i really though it would be the other way round.

As someone else said it individual luck which determines which factors will effect your health. All of the things you mentioned are equally bad I suppose.

But then my nan smokes 60 day, has done for years. Drinks half a bottle of brandy day, has done for years. Rarely gets out of chair, let alone excerise, has done for years. She is 87 years old. The only health problems she had up untill recently were cataracts.

My Grandad has never smoked in his life, is a perfect weight, exercises regularly, rarely drinks - he has high blood pressure and cholesterol.

yes i suppose that makes perfect sense shinyandnew but i think my problem with the debate lies within the amount she smokes.ie is smoking such a small amount compared to being as overwight as i am putting me in the more unhealthy bracket.i see that if she smoked 20 a day clearly that is a huge health risk and she would have to rely on genetic make up being lucky but her argument is that the amount she smokes means that there are many people out there more unhealthy than her due to weight drinking etc.maybe i am looking for an excuse for being as i am.

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