So now overweight is not so bad as long as you are not obese.
The most surprising finding was that being overweight but not obese was associated only with excess mortality from diabetes and kidney disease -- not from cancer or heart disease. Moreover, the researchers found an apparent protective effect against all other causes of death, such as tuberculosis, emphysema, pneumonia, Alzheimer's disease and injuries. An association between excess weight and nearly 16,000 deaths from diabetes and kidney disease was overshadowed by a reduction of as many as 133,000 deaths from all other deaths unrelated to cancer or heart disease. Even moderately obese people appeared less likely to die of those causes.Overweight is defined as those with a body mass index of between 25 and 30. Over BMI 30 and you are obese and that is not good.
But if your BMI is between 25 - 30 that might not be so bad. According to a recent study you are more likely to suffer from diabetes and kidney disease but you are less likely to suffer from a number of other diseases.
UPDATE: I just heard a news report on these results. As usual news reporters cannot take the time to go the extra step of trying to understand what is reported in the literature. The news reported that if you are up to 25 lbs overweight you may suffer from fewer diseases as you get older but not if you more than 30 lbs overweight.
Obviously confusing the BMI ratios of 25-30 and >30 which are relationships between height and weight. The actual formula is as follows:
BMI = (weight in pounds X 703)
height in inches²
Here is the weight status table:
BMI Weight Status
Below 18.5 Underweight
18.5 - 24.9 Normal
25 - 29.9 Overweight