Looks can deceive: Why a slim waist, a tan and glossy hair are NOT the sign of good health

By Fiona Macrae for the Daily Mail
Updated: 02:31 EST, 14 May 2010

model on beach

Experts say that when we judge someone's health based on their looks, we ignore 'hidden' factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels. (Posed by model)

With their glossy hair, glowing skin and gym-honed bodies, many celebrities appear the picture of health.

But underneath that glossy veneer, the opposite may be true.

Experts have warned against putting too much stock on a person's outward appearance.

They say that when we judge someone's health based on their looks, we ignore 'hidden' but highly important factors such as blood pressure, smoking habits and cholesterol levels.

In addition, expensive beauty products can made even the limpest hair and dullest skin take on a 'healthy' sheen, while cosmetic surgery can zap away pounds piled on guzzling fatty foods.

The warnings follow a survey in which more than 2,500 men and women were shown pictures of two people and asked which they believed to be the healthiest.

One picture was of a slim, tanned, blonde women, the other of an average-looking man. Heavier and paler than the woman, he was dressed in slightly scruffy clothes.

Almost two thirds of those questioned (62 per cent) plumped for the woman.

But when the pair were put through a battery of simple health checks, including glucose and cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and drinking and smoking habits, it was the man who came out on top.

Six in ten said a glowing skin and healthy head of hair were signs of health - although both can be achieved with products bought over the pharmacy counter.

pugh.jpg

The pictures also give no indication of danger spots that leave few outward clues.

High blood pressure, for instance, affects at third of adults and doubles the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But it is usually symptomless until it is too late.

The message, say Nuffield Health, the private medical and gym chain that conducted the research, is that good health is more than skin deep.

The company's medical director Dr Andy Jones said: 'We have bought into the perception that beautiful equals healthy.

'The beauty industry has developed some wonderful products that enable people to spray on a healthy look.

'Glossy hair and a dewy complexion are available in every high street chemist, enabling many of us to cheat our way to apparent vitality but good looking doesn't always equate to good health.

'In fact, many of the most important indicators of health have no outwards signs.'

Scientists point out that thinness - often equated with beauty these days - can be a sign of malnourishment or eating disorders, or can point to an underlying health problem such as an overactive thyroid.

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