Are you overweight? Good!

Overweight people live longer than supposedly “normal” weight people. This has been well documented and is irrefutable. For example, a study that followed 1.8 million people for ten years found that people with a body mass index (BMI) between 26 and 28 had the highest life expectancy. Not only that, they found that people with a BMI between 18 and 20 (supposedly optimal) had a lower life expectancy than those with a BMI between 34 and 36 (obese). The most recent study, published in the May, 2016 Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that people with a body mass index of 27 have the lowest risk of dying early from any cause. Another study involving 250,000 people with heart disease found that overweight patients had better survival rates and fewer heart problems than those with a “normal” index number.

The definitions of what is “overweight,” “normal,” and “obese” are defined by the World Health Organization, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and other organizations. They are based on BMI figures. Don’t know your BMI? It’s easy to compute with an online calculator. Here’s a link to one: BMI calculator. You only need to know your height and weight.

As you’ll see on this site, here is what the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute says is normal, overweight, etc.:

Underweight = <18.5
Normal weight = 18.5–24.9 
Overweight = 25–29.9 
Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

My BMI is 26, which makes me overweight, as well as 65 percent of my fellow Americans including Michael Jordan in his prime. Arnold Schwarzenegger, when he was Mr. Universe at age thirty-three, had a BMI of 33, which made him technically obese.

So what the heck? Where do the supposed experts come up with what is normal, etc.? I don’t know. Under the circumstances, it makes no sense to me.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.