Characteristics of metabolically unhealthy lean people. Compared to people who are of normal weight and metabolically healthy, subjects who are of normal weight but metabolically unhealthy have a three-fold higher risk of mortality and/or cardiovascular events. Scientists have now addressed characteristics determining metabolic health in lean, overweight and obese people, showed that a reduced accumulation of fat in the lower body puts lean people at risk and highlighted implications of their findings for personalized prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic diseases. Source 3v.