New Report Redefines Concept of Being Fat

May 11, 2007 (KABC-TV) (KABC) -- A new report is redefining the concept of being fat.

At 5 feet 4 inches tall and 115 pounds, Alona Zerlin looks like the picture of health, but a closer examination of her muscle to fat ratio reveals her body is 24 percent fat.

"Normally for someone my height and weight and size it should be 18 percent, but it's not like that," Zerlin said.

"If you stop exercising, you eat a lot of extra food, your body is going to get into the over fat category, where your body is going to accumulate fat on the inside," Dr. David Heber, of UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, said.

Dr. Heber says if Alona gained five more pounds of fat she would be considered over fat.

This is a new concept of overweight. It's not big people who are overweight, it's people who have fat on the inside of their body.

In a British study of 800 people who underwent MRI exams, 45 percent of those with a normal waist circumference and normal body mass index had excessive levels of fat.

"It turns out the fat around the liver and various organs actually changes your metabolism and makes them more susceptible to diabetes, heart disease and breast cancer," Dr. Heber said.

So how do you get rid of internal fat? Diet alone is not the answer.

"If you just cut back on what you eat, you'll just lose muscle and fat and you won't change the ratio. In order to mobilize the fat, you have to build the muscle which changes your metabolism and then you'll get rid of the fat," Dr. Heber said.

Dr. Heber recommends eating more protein, limiting fat and carbs, and weight training at least three times a week.

Zerlin says it's a program she plans on making a lifestyle.

"As you get older your metabolism gets slower so you just have to keep working at it," Zerlin said.

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