According to a new government study by
the Centers for Disease Control, being 25 pounds overweight (with a
BMI-body mass index between 25 and 30) doesn't appear to raise one's
risk of dying from cancer or heart disease. Maybe Grandma was right
after all.
But, the news isn't all good. Overweight
people do have a higher chance of dying from diabetes and kidney
disease.
That little extra weight seems to help people survive some
illnesses, results that puzzled some top health researchers.
This new study looked at specific causes of death and new mortality
figures from 2004 for 2.3 million people.
Another surprising finding was that overweight people were about 40%
less likely than normal weight people to die from other causes,
including emphysema, pneumonia, injuries and various infections.
The age group that seems to benefit the most from a little extra
padding is people aged 25 to 59. Older overweight people had lower
risks for those diseases too. Why extra fat isn't always deadly and
might even help people survive some illnesses remains unclear and is
disputed by many health experts.
According to noted obesity researcher Steven Blair of the University
of South Carolina, Americans have been "whipped into a near
hysteria" by media hype over the nation's obesity epidemic. Although
this epidemic is real, the number of actual deaths attributed to it
and being overweight has been exaggerated.
Consequently, some feel that people should focus on healthy eating
and exercise, and stop obsessing about a few extra pounds--in other
words, it's OK to have a little "wiggle room."