# Weight and longevity



## Dr. Feelgood (Apr 3, 2007)

All my life I have been told that thin people live longer than fat people. What I _haven't_ been told, and would really like to know, is _how much_ longer? I seem to recall reading an article on the CNN website (back in April 2004, I think) that the difference is one year, on the average. That doesn't seem like much, considering all the hoopla about obesity. Can anyone either confirm or deny this statistic?


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## AnnMarie (Apr 3, 2007)

I hate to laugh, but if anyone actually had an answer to this question.... ANYONE... then we'd all have a much more cut and dry take on the fat and healthy/fat and unhealthy debates. 

I don't think there is any real answer... you'll get one from one side, one from another. And frankly, a bus can shave quite a few more years off my life... I'm just going to keep looking both ways and smile while I'm at it.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Apr 3, 2007)

AnnMarie said:


> I don't think there is any real answer... you'll get one from one side, one from another. And frankly, a bus can shave quite a few more years off my life... I'm just going to keep looking both ways and smile while I'm at it.



Agreed, health issues of any kind are a highly individual matter -- and, on the average, fat triathletes outlive thin heroin users. But if there is a general consensus among the medical fraternity (which there seems to be) that thin people live longer on the average... then that implies _some_ sort of average on which this view is based. And _that's_ what I'm asking about.


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## Luvs2laff (Apr 3, 2007)

Anecdotally, this didn't hold up in my family. My dad, who was skinny as a rail, died from Parkinson's at age 72, after suffering miserably from a number of conditions in his final years. My BBW grandmother (not his mom), on the other hand, lived to be nearly 95, and was relatively healthy and definitely all there right up to the end. Go figure!

Guess this just goes to show that you can be healthy - or unhealthy, for that matter - at any size.


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## AnnMarie (Apr 3, 2007)

Okay, well... a search on Google for "obesity change life span" got me this article: 
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/diet.fitness/03/16/obesity.longevity.ap/




> within 50 years obesity likely will shorten the average life span of 77.6 years by at least two to five years.


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## pani (Apr 4, 2007)

Whatever the real number is, it is just a statistic. It does not mean every fat person dies earlier than every thin person. It means that if you take a sample of fat people, and a sample of thin people, statistically the fat people will have a slightly shorter lifespan as a group. There will be many fat individuals who outlive many thin individuals. Also keep in mind, they do not control for things like yo-yo dieting or other risky weight loss practices, like fen-phen. They do not control for social class (as a group, poor people tend to be fatter, have less access to quality health care, suffer more effects of environmental pollution etc.) It does not take into account medical bias and the discrimination fat people face. Nor does it factor in the fact sometimes weight gain is a symptom (not cause) of disease, or certain medications. Just because we are so brainwashed that fat people can't live a long time, I started a thread on this forum titled Happy Health Old People, where we are collecting examples of fat people who lived long lives.


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## FaxMachine1234 (Apr 4, 2007)

Knowing not a lot about medicine, I'd imagine that people dying of "obesity" is more of them dying of ailments whose risks are raised by those who have unhealthy lifestyles and just happen to be overweight as well; thin people with the same lifestyles still have the same risks. I don't think the weight itself is the cause; how many fat grandmothers are there in this country? A lot...is the answer.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Apr 4, 2007)

pani said:


> Whatever the real number is, it is just a statistic.



And as Benjamin Disraeli said: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, _damned_ lies, and statistics."



Ekim said:


> Knowing not a lot about medicine, I'd imagine that people dying of "obesity" is more of them dying of ailments whose risks are raised by those who have unhealthy lifestyles and just happen to be overweight as well; .



Exactly. And if you look closely at Anne-Marie's article (thanks, A-M, for looking it up!), you'll see that this dire "prediction" isn't based on any kind of study or research: someone just pulled it out of thin air! I have long suspected that the literature about weight and longevity was equally baseless, but I thought I'd start this thread to see if ANYONE had heard of a scientific basis for it. And guess what...?


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## Sweet Tooth (Apr 4, 2007)

I thought I heard about an extensive study done several years ago that measured longevity increases for not engaging in certain behaviors or having certain traits [ie. smoking/nonsmoking, thin/fat, etc], and some of them only came down to a difference of hours or days. I haven't seen the study or researched its validity, but someone came up with this information.

However, I agree completely with the others on this board who stress that YMMV. We have plenty of fat women in my family living to ripe old ages.


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## LillyBBBW (Apr 4, 2007)

I saw a study once that claims fatties live longer because their resistance to disease is high. Fat people are much better at fighting off colds, flu, lung infections, etc. Fatties have a low incidence of osteoperosis so broken bones and tooth loss happens less often. Also the overweight are much more resiliant during chemo and other forms of treatment for cancers and that their survival rate is much higher. I recall the government was even going so far as to recommend weight gain for people over 60. I thought it was because the gov't was getting sick of paying out social security benefits to people who won't die, but there was a study presented claiming that weight was beneficial to the elderly.


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## Durin (Apr 4, 2007)

Here's what I want.

I want some sort of chart to pull out when I am eating dinner with my family. Maybe slides. 

Yes Mom I know I am eating this Steak and I am going to have the cheesecake for dessert and because I am ________ overweight/Obese it will shave 3.65 years off my lifespan. I'm O.K. wit dat.

Give me the &#@%^#^# SteaK!

:eat1: :shocked:


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## eightyseven (Apr 4, 2007)

I'd rather live my life the way that's most comfortable for me and die when I'm supposed to than spend my time worrying about how I'm going to elongate my life and thus inhibiting my true happiness. Quality over quantity. I don't need a statistic. I'm not a statistic and I don't plan to live out my life based on assumptions or numbers.


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## AnnMarie (Apr 4, 2007)

eightyseven said:


> I'd rather live my life the way that's most comfortable for me and die when I'm supposed to than spend my time worrying about how I'm going to elongate my life and thus inhibiting my true happiness. Quality over quantity. I don't need a statistic. I'm not a statistic and I don't plan to live out my life based on assumptions or numbers.



Yup, yup, what he said.


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## Luvs2laff (Apr 4, 2007)

eightyseven said:


> I'd rather live my life the way that's most comfortable for me and die when I'm supposed to than spend my time worrying about how I'm going to elongate my life and thus inhibiting my true happiness. Quality over quantity. I don't need a statistic. I'm not a statistic and I don't plan to live out my life based on assumptions or numbers.



This reminds me of a quote about vegetarians: they don't live longer, it just seems longer.

I agree 100%, eightyseven!


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## Emma (Apr 4, 2007)

I saw on TV today that a person with a BMI over 80 die within 5-7 years on average. Scary stuff really.


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## LillyBBBW (Apr 4, 2007)

CurvyEm said:


> I saw on TV today that a person with a BMI over 80 die within 5-7 years on average. Scary stuff really.



I must be already dead then.


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## Miss Vickie (Apr 4, 2007)

CurvyEm said:


> I saw on TV today that a person with a BMI over 80 die within 5-7 years on average. Scary stuff really.



I'm confused. They die within five to seven years of what? Realizing they're fat?


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## Emma (Apr 4, 2007)

Miss Vickie said:


> I'm confused. They die within five to seven years of what? Realizing they're fat?



On the fatdoctor today a doctor said a person with a BMI of over 80 usually dies within 5-7 years if they stay at that weight. I don't know if it's true or not.


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## fatlane (Apr 4, 2007)

Here's my take:

If you worry about something, the fear will kill you dead.

If you don't worry, you got no worries, so if you die, you'll at least die happy.

ENJOY LIFE DAMMIT


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## TallFatSue (Apr 4, 2007)

Well, I kinda look at it this way. I readily admit that obesity carries certain health risks, especially at my size, about 450lb. Any health benefits losing weight would probably be more than offset by the fact that I'd be pretty doggone miserable starving myself all the time. Turning that around, any health risks of being this fat are probably more than offset by the fact that I'm generally a happy woman, and a positive attitude works wonders. So, thin and miserable, or fat and happy, I'm probably better off keeping my fat and enjoying life, and I daresay I just might live longer with a positive outlook.


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## saucywench (Apr 4, 2007)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> All my life I have been told that thin people live longer than fat people. What I _haven't_ been told, and would really like to know, is _how much_ longer? I seem to recall reading an article on the CNN website (back in April 2004, I think) that the difference is one year, on the average. That doesn't seem like much, considering all the hoopla about obesity. Can anyone either confirm or deny this statistic?


From http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_4_36/ai_n6181337

A recent [circa 2003-2004] analysis by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attributed 400,000 deaths a year in this country to "poor diet and physical inactivity." 

The 400,000 estimate --which covers all diseases related to diet and inactivity, not just those stemming from excess weight per se--is based on risk increases inferred from associations found in epidemiological studies. As a 1998 editorial in The New England Journal of Medicine noted regarding an earlier version of this calculation, "that figure is by no means well established. Not only is it derived from weak or incomplete data, but it is also called into question by the methodologic difficulties of determining which of many factors contribute to premature death." In any case, such death tolls obscure the risks faced by someone who is trying to decide whether the benefits of losing weight are worth the costs in terms of effort and forgone pleasure.
Two studies published in January 2003 give a clearer sense of the dangers associated with excess weight. One, reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that white men in their 20s with BMIs of 145 or more (e.g., a man who is five feet, nine inches tall and weighs at least 305 pounds) live, on average, about 13 fewer years than men who are not overweight; the comparable figure for white women was eight years. By contrast, the merely overweight (with BMIs between 25 and 30) "lost" only a year or so. The other study, reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at life expectancy for 40-year-olds enrolled in the Framingham Heart Study. Among nonsmokers, it found, overweight men and women could expect to live about three fewer years than subjects who were not overweight. For obese 40-year-olds, the "years lost" rose to six for men and seven for women--similar to the loss of life expectancy associated with cigarette smoking.
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If you need the specific articles mentioned in this story, it would take some digging, but I could find them.

The Framingham Heart Study is one of, if not the largest, studies of its kind ever conducted, and is now in its third generation. You can Google several variations of Framingham Heart Study/obesity/longevity/cardiovascular risk, etc., and find many articles that are based on these findings. Or go to http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/framingham/ and search directly at the source.


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## Damon (Apr 4, 2007)

I can't remember exactly who did the research on this but if I remeber correctly plump women live a little longer than skinny ones. I would think that the weight for that would be in the 150 - 200 pound range.


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## Jane (Apr 5, 2007)

So, I could miss the worst 13 years my mother suffered with Alzheimer's just by being fat?

Cool.


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## rainyday (Apr 5, 2007)

saucywench said:


> From http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_4_36/ai_n6181337
> 
> ...white men in their 20s with BMIs of 145 or more (e.g., a man who is five feet, nine inches tall and weighs at least 305 pounds) live, on average, about 13 fewer years than men who are not overweight...



This makes no sense. The BMI for a 5'5" man weighing 305 = 50, not 145. Maybe they have a typo in there.


ETA: Just saw this chart from the NIH. IMO it really doesn't give much info because it doesn't explain what the risks are or their consequences, but here's the link if anyone wants it. Who knew there were three classes of obesity? Top of the class here! 
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/lose_wt/bmi_dis.htm.


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## saucywench (Apr 5, 2007)

rainyday said:


> Who knew there were three classes of obesity? Top of the class here!


Yeah, I've been meaning to mention this in a post somewhere, but never found a good place to put it (until now). A few months back I was in the examination room waiting for my doctor to arrive. The nurse came and took my stats. She got on the computer to record them and had to leave the room briefly. She didn't lock the pc and, as I was sitting on the edge of the exam table, I happened to look over at my e-chart and noticed that they had me ranked as Extremely Obese III. I wondered how I came to achieve that ranking, and now I know.

Aren't we special?


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## tonynyc (Apr 6, 2007)

They had an article about an oldtime wrestler, Abe Coleman, that passed away at the age of 101. In his prime he weighed 220 at a height of 5'3" which would have given him a BMI of 39. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/02/sports/othersports/02coleman.html


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## fatlane (Apr 6, 2007)

Jane said:


> So, I could miss the worst 13 years my mother suffered with Alzheimer's just by being fat?
> 
> Cool.



Indeed. I'd love to clock out physically before I clock out mentally.


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## TheSadeianLinguist (Apr 6, 2007)

Damon said:


> I can't remember exactly who did the research on this but if I remeber correctly plump women live a little longer than skinny ones. I would think that the weight for that would be in the 150 - 200 pound range.



http://www.sportsgeezer.com/sportsgeezer/2005/04/slightly_overwe.html

People in general seem to live longer if they're somewhat fat.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Apr 6, 2007)

fatlane said:


> . I'd love to clock out physically before I clock out mentally.



So would I, but it's too late now.


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## EtobicokeFA (Apr 9, 2007)

TallFatSue said:


> Well, I kinda look at it this way. I readily admit that obesity carries certain health risks, especially at my size, about 450lb. Any health benefits losing weight would probably be more than offset by the fact that I'd be pretty doggone miserable starving myself all the time. Turning that around, any health risks of being this fat are probably more than offset by the fact that I'm generally a happy woman, and a positive attitude works wonders. So, thin and miserable, or fat and happy, I'm probably better off keeping my fat and enjoying life, and I daresay I just might live longer with a positive outlook.



You have a point. I also would rather live a better, happier life than a longer miserable life. 

However, I have noticed that to a point, your health is more dependent on how much you move your ass rather than how much ass you have. 

Excuse my French!


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