‘Weight is Healthy’ study criticized

Comment:

Extra weight, higher BMI, longer life – really?

Is this quack research or is there a grain of truth? What do you think?

Research:

This research found in the Journal of the American Medical Association has caused much controversy among obesity experts. The study suggests that being overweight can lead to a longer life.

The study involved approximately 2.9 million people to compare their BMI (Body Mass Index) with death rate. Results proved that being underweight or severely obese did shorten life expectancy, however the shocking result was that people with a BMI between 25 and 30 (slightly overweight) were 6% less likely to die early than those considered to have a ‘healthy’ weight (BMI between 18.5 and 25).

Results showed mildly obese people with a BMI between 30 and 35 were no more likely to die early than people with a healthy BMI. The conclusion of the study was that being ‘overwight was associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality.’

Explanations of this finding included that overweight people are getting medical treatment, such as to control blood pressure, more quickly or the extra weight is helping people survive being severely ill in hospital. The legitimacy of this study is being questioned since only the death rates were looked at and not years spent free of ill-health.

The Royal College of Physicians called for the UK to rethink the way it will overcome obesity. Prof John Wass said, “Have you ever seen a 100-year-old human being overweight? The answer is you probably haven’t.”

Prof John Wass said the largest people will have died years before due to health problems and higher levels of Type 2 diabetes. “Huge pieces of evidence go against this, countless other studies point in the other direction.”

Many other experts were harshly against this research discovery. Dr. Walter Willett from Harvard School of Public Health said: “This is an even greater pile of rubbish” than a study conducted by the same group in 2005.

Read the original article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20889381