Aptitude physique versus adiposité : aspects physiopathologiques et impacts cardio-métaboliques chez le sujet adulte non diabétique: Fitness versus fatness: Pathophysiological aspects and metabolic consequences in non-diabetic adults

Abstract

Summary Excessive fat depots, especially abdominal adiposity, exert deleterious cardiometabolic effects whereas physical exercise and good cardiorespiratory fitness globally exert a favourable influence. Therefore, the negative effects of excessive fat mass (“fatness”) might be counterbalanced by the positive effects of regular physical activity leading to high “fitness”. The present article first analyzes the various pathophysiological mechanisms explaining why muscular exercise exerts beneficial effects in overweight people and attempts to separate the effects of physical activity from those due to fitness. Finally, it describes most important studies focusing on the relationships between “fitness” and “fatness” in non-diabetic overweight or obese adults and their respective influences on metabolic disturbances (metabolic syndrome) and on death rate, especially cardiovascular mortality.