A Few Extra Pounds Linked to a Longer Life
Overall, people who carry a few extra pounds tended to live longer than those who are either normal weight or very obese, new research shows.
The review, of 97 studies that included a combined 2.88 million people, questions the notion that people of normal weight live longest.
“It is possible that under certain circumstances, being a little overweight is good as opposed to bad,” says Steven B. Heymsfield, MD, executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, La. Heymsfield wrote an editorial on the review but was not involved in the research.
About 30% of women and 40% of men in the U.S. are overweight based on their body mass index (BMI), a measure of size that takes into account a person’s height and weight.
While they may not be able to wear their favorite clothing size, Heymsfield says it doesn’t necessarily mean they are sicker than people who are at so-called normal BMIs.
“You have to separate out the cosmetic part from the health part,” he says.
Study Details
The review, which is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, takes a fresh look at nearly two decades of research into the relationship between body weight and death risk.
Read the Full Article at http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20121228/extra-pounds-longer-life?ecd=wnl_day_010313&ctr=wnl-day-010313_hdln_2&mb=
Source and Authors: By Brenda Goodman, MA for WebMD Health News, Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD on January 1, 2013 at http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20121228/extra-pounds-longer-life?ecd=wnl_day_010313&ctr=wnl-day-010313_hdln_2&mb=
