A few extra pounds can add years to your life: study

[Docfeelgood]

A few extra pounds can add years to your life: study
Wed Jun 24, 2009 4:04am EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Carrying a little extra weight may actually be good for you, according to a Canadian study that showed a few pounds appear to protect people from an early death.

Researchers found that while underweight and extremely obese people die earlier than people of a normal weight, people who are slightly overweight actually live longer than those of a normal weight.

The findings of the new study were published online in the journal Obesity by researchers at Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.

"It's not surprising that extreme underweight and extreme obesity increase the risk of dying, but it is surprising that carrying a little extra weight may give people a longevity advantage," researcher David Feeny from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research said in a statement.

But fellow researcher Mark Kaplan, professor of Community Health at Portland State University, said while a few extra pounds may protect older people as their health declines, that did not mean people of normal weight should try to add bulk.

"Our study only looked at mortality, not at quality of life, and there are many negative health consequences associated with obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes," said Kaplan.

The study was based on examining the relationship between body mass index and death among 11,326 adults in Canada over a 12-year period using data from the National Population Health Survey.

During the study period, from 1994/1995 through 2006/2007, underweight people were 70 percent more likely than people of normal weight to die, and extremely obese people were 36 percent more likely to die.

But overweight individuals were 17 percent less likely to die. The relative risk for obese people was nearly the same as for people of normal weight.

The researchers said this was the first large Canadian study to show that people who are overweight may actually live longer than those of normal weight. An earlier study, conducted in the United States and published in 2005 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, showed similar results.

[Jon Miller]

Most of the 'fat' people in the US are obese though.

JM

[Darius871]

Something tells me that article's definition of "slightly overweight" is a bit misleading. Yes, it makes sense that your cardiovascular system would benefit from having an ample supply of ketone bodies available in the bloodstream as quickly as possible when glucose levels drop between meals, meaning people with a "saran-wrapped" figure would die earlier because they have very little fat (aside from some necessary organ cushioning) from which to draw ketone components. However, that "buffer" of stored energy between meals would only need to be 5-10 pounds beyond the saran-wrapped bare minimum, not the sort beer belly and love handles that one pictures from "slightly overweight." When I think "slightly overweight" I think Homer Simpson, leaving "obese" to Peter Griffin.

Just a thought though; I ain't no scientician.

[Jon Miller]

A lot of people are obese in the US, depending on my BF% I reach obese at a little above 200 lbs.

JM

[BeBMan]

Few extra dollars or euros wouldn't hurt either....

[DirtyMartini]

BMI is an awful way to quantify weight/body composition. I'm highly suspicious of any study using it as its primary metric.

[Japher]

It didn't look at quality of life. So really, the reason that fat people didn't die is because they merely sat around the house all day sucking up the socialized health care that kept their dialysis machine running.

Whereas, the in shape people were hit by a car while going for a jog.

[SpencerH]

BMI is a pathetically ridiculous way to judge health, good or bad. Both of these olympic athletes have BMI's that categorize them as 'obese' (>30).

[Space05us]

It didn't look at quality of life. So really, the reason that fat people didn't die is because they merely sat around the house all day sucking up the socialized health care that kept their dialysis machine running.

Whereas, the in shape people were hit by a car while going for a jog.

The other side of the coin being that people with average BMIs tend to be skinny. They may be healthy in modern medical terms, but they have low muscle mass and/or little stored fat. Other studies have shown that being bulkier also helps with recovery from injury.

I am 5'10" 155lbs, almost dead center on the BMI scale. I'm a skinny geek. At 174lbs I would begin to qualify as overweight. I have weighed 175lbs before, I had a beautiful, athletic body.

[Blaupanzer]

Pictures?

[dudemanjack]

People actually still use BMI?

[Dis]

the article I read on diabetes says that BMI is still a good tool to use. And basically says you need to be in the normal range. And if you look a web page that calculataes BMI (can't remember which one I used) it says that extreme bodybuilders or weighlifters will not have an accurate test, and need to use more accurate measuring. But for most regular people (ie us), the BMI is juts fine. So don't be acting all smug and scoff at it. I doubt any of the posters here look like the above pictures.

http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/

22.8 *flexes*

[dudemanjack]

Define "extreme" bodybuilders/weightlifters. I am 6 feet, 173 lbs. If I gained 10 pounds of muscle I'd be considered overweight. Hardly extreme if you work hard and take the time. It doesn't take into account body fat vs. lean muscle. It does not take into account your body type, bone structure or apparently not even if you are male or female.

Go to your local gym and get a body fat % test done.

[Dis]

How is that done? I don't think the gym I go to offers that.

In the navy they did some height/weight,waist circumference, and neck circumference measurement. I'm not sure what calculation they used. But I don't have a measuring tape, so I can't measure my neck circumference anyways.

[Docfeelgood]