It seems that we are bombarded by exhortations to lose
weight. Everything will be better if we can just lose some weight. Surprise! It
turns out that being too skinny is far more unhealthy than being to fat.
A recent medical study, published in the American Board
of Family Medicine, looked at over 50,000 adult Americans and their health over
a period of six years. The research correlated each person’s Body Mass Index
(BMI) with their likelihood of death. Adjustments were made for health factors
such as high blood pressure and diabetes as well as smoking and socioeconomic
factors.
The results of the study were surprising. People with
BMIs below 20, considered to be “underweight” were the most likely to die. That's right: being too thin increases your risk of death. Their
mortality rate was about double that of obese (BMIs over 35) or overweight people (BMIs between 30 and 35)
and 2.5 times that of people with “normal” BMIs of 25-30.
This is not an endorsement for overeating. Diabetes (type
II) and high blood pressure can be brought on by being overweight. These diseases
can shorten your life, but this study adjusted out their influence.
Other influences on mortality were noted. Not too surprisingly,
it is healthier to be wealthy than poor. Wealthy people had a 30% lower
mortality than poor people.
People with public health insurance had higher
mortality rates than people with private insurance, and even died more often
than people with no insurance at all. The Midwest was the healthiest region in
which to live and college graduates had 35% lower mortality than high school
drop-outs.
What can be made of all of these statistics? Ideally you
should become a college-educated, wealthy person of average or somewhat
higher-than-average weight living in Iowa. Don’t smoke, watch your hypertension
and blood sugar and have lots of friends. With this formula, science predicts a
long and happy life!
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