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BACKGROUND: The statistics seem to rise with each passing year: Among adults age 20 and over in the United States, 66.3 percent are overweight or obese. Of these, 32 percent are obese. It's not just an adult problem: More than 9 million children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19 years old are overweight. We've heard time and time again that being overweight or obese puts people at significantly higher risk for life-threatening diseases like heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Given the dangers associated with putting on those extra pounds, it seems obvious that normal weight people should live longer and healthier lives. However, new research shows that's not always the case. Carrying around a few extra pounds could actually help you live longer.
IS CHUBBY THE NEW HEALTHY? A recent government study shows being a little overweight is not linked to a higher risk of dying from heart disease or cancer. In fact, those few extra pounds actually lower a person's risk of dying from a variety of diseases. Researchers analyzed mortality statistics among 2.3 million American adults from 2004. To get to their findings, researchers recorded the body mass index (BMI) of people who passed away during the study period. Results of the study show a BMI of at least 30, which places people in the obese category, was linked to a significantly higher risk of death from heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease and several cancers, including breast, colon and pancreatic cancer. However, results show that being overweight with a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 was not linked to a higher risk of death from heart disease or any kind of cancer. Furthermore, people with a BMI of between 25 and 29.9 were about 40-percent less
likely than normal weight and obese people to die from other causes of death like emphysema, pneumonia, injuries and infections. They were also less likely to die from Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
Experts caution that there is a difference between being a healthy overweight person and a sedentary overweight person. Joshua Brown, Ph.D., from the Medical University of South Carolina, says as long as people exercise and continue to have normal health measurements including blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol, then having a little extra padding may not be as bad as once thought. He says to also remember that BMI doesn't tell the whole picture. "Body mass index is just your height and your weight, and it doesn't take into account your body composition. " Brown adds, "It [the study] does reiterate to folks who may be in the overweight range that they are not necessarily unhealthy, and in some cases, they may be in better health than individuals who are in the 'healthy' range." Brown's message to those people who have active lifestyles, but still fall in that moderately overweight range: "Stay where you are. There is no pressing need to lose
weight because you are healthy where you are. The main concern is: don't gain weight." The study's lead author Katherine Flegal, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says carrying around a little extra weight could provide nutritional reserves that serve as a weapon against some diseases and illnesses.
NOT THE WHOLE PICTURE? Critics of the study say this research isn't enough to now label overweight people as "healthy." Patrick O'Neil, Ph.D., from the Medical University of South Carolina, told Ivanhoe, "It [the study] only speaks to the likelihood of dying from particular causes. It does not address health status. It does not address quality of life."
