Can Overweight Help You Live Longer?

A new research analysis reveals a surprising pattern: While obesity increases the risk of dying early, being slightly overweight reduces it.

 

These studies included almost three million adults from around the world, yet the results were remarkably consistent, the authors of the analysis noted.

“For people with a medical condition, survival is slightly better for people who are slightly heavier,” said the researcher.

Several factors may accounts for these findings, the researcher added. “May be heavier people present to the doctor earlier, or get screened more often,” said the researcher. 

“Heavier people may be more likely to be treated, or fat itself may be more Cardio-protective, or someone who is heavier might be more resilient and better able to stand a shock to their system.”

These studies were done in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, Taiwan, China, Japan, Brazil, Israel, India, and Mexico. 

The researcher looked at the participants` body mass index, or BMI, which is a measurement of the body fat that takes into account a person`s height and weight.

The researcher after pooling all the data from all the studies, the researcher found out that compared with normal weight people; overweight people had a 6% lower risk of death. Obese people however, had an 18% higher risk of death.

For those who were the least obese, the risk of death was 5% lower than for normal weight people, but for those who were the most obese, the risk of death was 29% higher, the findings revealed.

While the research found an association between weight and premature death risk, it did no prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

Indeed, one expert cautions that body weight alone cannot predict health and the risk of death.