In the last six months I have gained five pounds for no
reason that I can think of. Nothing has changed: I eat the same and exercise
the same as I have for years. It’s common to gain weight in our middle years. For
most people, body fat peaks at middle age. After that, weight usually stabilizes until about age
70, at which time weight begins to decrease. I am 80. What the heck!?
At least I can console myself with the fact that overweight people
live longer than people of “normal” weight as measured by the body mass index (BMI). This has been documented time and again. (Which of course makes
you wonder about the value of these numbers.) A reminder of BMI numbers:
Underweight = 18.5 or less
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = 30 or greater
Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
Overweight = 25-29.9
Obesity = 30 or greater
To see where you stand, use this online calculator (ignore the tedious verbiage). Mine is in the neighborhood of 26 (I’m not sure about my height).
The largest and most carefully done study of nearly three
million people found that those in the overweight category had less risk of
dying than people of normal weight. Even people considered obese (BMI of 30 to
34.9) were not more likely to die than normal-weight people.
Then there’s this: a 16-year study that followed more
than 45 thousand male health professionals revealed that the
lower the BMI, the higher the rates of suicide, and vice versa. Compared with
the men in the lowest 20 percent BMI, those in the highest one-fifth were
almost 60 percent less likely to kill themselves.
While this is comforting, I’d still like to drop those
five pounds (without dieting, of course).
For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.
For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.
Can you give us links for the studies you paraphrase? I'm a fan of caloric reduction and longer, perkier life, a style of life I practice. I don't feel I can possibly be putting my life expectancy in statistical harm's way. I'd like to read the studies. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, Bob. I've found the information in various places, but here's one summary: http://www.webmd.com/diet/news/20090625/study-overweight-people-live-longer#1 I originally found the information, collected by the CDC, when researching my 2008 book, Fat: It's Not What You Think. As to caloric reduction: I'm not into suffering. I like to eat. But good luck!
DeleteThank you very much, Connie. This issue is not clearcut when you chase down the details. I didn't go very far, but I did find this (in addition to your material) - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21121834/ - Body-mass index and mortality among 1.46 million white adults in NEJM for 2010/11. "Conclusions: In white adults, overweight and obesity (and possibly underweight) are associated with increased all-cause mortality. All-cause mortality is generally lowest with a BMI of 20.0 to 24.9." In both cases there is a jungle of potential confounding factors to confuse a person. Other factors are already confusing me enough, so I'll leave it at this. I enjoy your newsletter. Keep up the good work. bob
DeleteHey, Bob--thanks for your interest and kind comments. So here's my quote for you "Relative to normal weight, both obesity (all grades) and grades 2 and 3 obesity were associated with significantly higher all-cause mortality. Grade 1 obesity overall was not associated with higher mortality, and overweight was associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality." Here's the link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23280227 The lead author is the same one whose work I used when discussing this issue in my book. I like my source better! More comforting!
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DeleteFun to have a conversation this way, Connie. Yes, I read that quote in material I found with the link you sent in your first reply. It is startling. That's also where I found the source I quoted from just above. It is a study based on about 1.5 million Americans rather than (as I recall) 11,000 Canadians. But as you imply in your "more comforting" remark, the main number of issue here is likely BMI itself. I'm running 21.7 this morning... [i just deleted this b/c I then noticed your bigger yet numbers ! Have to double check all that, but suspect it will come back to our own current BMI's in any case.]
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