From Your Health Journal…..”Last week, I discussed ‘weighty issues’ suggesting being overweight may not be as bad as some think. Seattle PI, an excellent publication in Washington published a similar article today about this matter. Obesity may have many negative health effects, but increased mortality rates are not one of them, according to a study that was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Researchers found that individuals with weight problems do not necessarily have shorter life expectancies than their normal-weight counterparts, and possible, a few extra pounds could even lower the risk of an untimely death. This is an interesting study, but worries me, as I hope people do not interpret this as it is okay to gain weight, as this is not what the study is stating. Keeping weight at a healthy range is important to fight many diseases, fights heart disease, and lowers the risks for type 2 diabetes. It helps us carry out our daily tasks with greater ease, and builds our self=esteem. The study basically is stating the gaining a few extra pounds may not be as harmful as some may think. In fact, the study, which investigated the causes of 270,000 deaths from around the world, also found that the morbidly obese had a 29 percent increased risk of dying prematurely compared to normal-weight and moderately overweight people. Please visit the Seattle PI web site (link provide below) to read the complete article.”
It would be a mistake to conclude from this one study that Americans can keep overeating,
From the article…..
Obesity may have multiple negative health effects, but higher mortality rates are not among them, according to a study that was recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Researchers found that people with weight problems don’t necessarily have shorter life expectancies than their normal-weight contemporaries. In fact, a few extra pounds could even lower the risk of an untimely death.
The findings were greeted with great interest in the press and welcomed as good news for the two-thirds of all Americans who, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are considered overweight or obese.
Based on the results of this study, the government ought to redefine the meaning of “overweight” and “obese” and re-categorize a large part of the population as normal-weight and healthy, writes Paul Campus, author of “The Obesity Myth: Why America’s Obsession with Weight Is Hazardous to Your Health” (Penguin Group, 2004), in an op-ed piece in the New York Times.
“If the government were to redefine normal weight as one that doesn’t increase the risk of death, then 130 million of the 165 million American adults currently categorized as overweight and obese would be re-categorized as normal weight instead,” he says.
If only it were that easy.
What this particular study does say is that among all causes of mortality, not overall health risks, being overweight does not seem to stand out as a particularly significant factor. But that doesn’t mean the obesity crisis should no longer be treated as such.
In fact, the study, which investigated the causes of 270,000 deaths from around the world, also found that the morbidly obese had a 29 percent increased risk of dying prematurely compared to normal-weight and moderately overweight people.
To read the complete article…..Click here