Forums >General Running>New Research shows "Being overweight linked to lower risk of mortality"
The take I heard on this on the TV this morning was that slightly over-weight people, compared to naturally thinner people, were more likely to try to exercise and to watch what they eat. This naturally makes them a little more healthy than those that are presumebly lucky to be thin. I know it's rare to find thin people these days, but I do know a few naturlaly thin people that are about as unfit as you can be. Yet, they think they're fit because they're thin.
Snoop Dogg comes to mind.
nm
New Mexico?
Nanometer?
Nine Months?
I am very thin....thin enough that people give me a lot of crap about it. When I am in shape I am about 7% body fat....and my BMI is solidly in the "normal" range. I cannot imagine losing enough mass to get in the "underweight" category....I would be a skeleton, weak, and unable to do anything productive. In fact only serious illness or anorexia would get me there. So, it would not surprise me if being underweight is found to be a risk factor...but not because being thin is bad, but because the things that make someone that overly thin are bad.
I am very thin....thin enough that people give me a lot of crap about it. When I am in shape I am about 7% body fat....and my BMI is solidly in the "normal" range. I cannot imagine losing enough mass to get in the "underweight" category....I would be a skeleton, weak, and unable to do anything productive. In fact only serious illness or anorexia would get me there.
So, it would not surprise me if being underweight is found to be a risk factor...but not because being thin is bad, but because the things that make someone that overly thin are bad.
Agreed. I'm the skinniest person I know outside of my running friends. My BMI is 20.7 -- square in the middle of normal.
The Logic of Long Distance
A Saucy Wench
This is what I was talking about. I bet if you polled 100 Americans 99 would classify you as underweight. The perception is skewed. Hell I will out myself right here:
This is overweight:
And this is obese:
I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets
"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7
Eye of Sauron
This is a great discussion. Threads started by this OP on both RA and RWOL have always been entertaining, sometimes head scratching.
And once again Mr. Wizard (aka: Stevie Ray) explains the internet.
Thanks for the explanation.
I thought jingchunyu's explanation was joking. But then when I thought about the age and the region factors, I kinda got what it meant.
Back to the OP, I'm thinking along the line with bhearn's.
Assuming the weight/BMI is that at death (likely), then it may well be whoever lost more weight (hence lower weight) was having a more severe illness or struggling more at that point. Then it's hardly any surprise the result is the best survival rate is in the average BMI range: 1) the ranges are wide 2) the adv is only 6%. It may be rapid weight loss is the actual indicator. Rapid weight loss can also lead to lowered immunity.
Fanatic #3965
Overweight (easily 25#s over ideal, here)...but those quads are more than a little bit muscular:
Kirsten
'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)
• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!
• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)
• 1st olympic distance duathlon
• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race
• Half Fanatic
• punch Type 1 in the junk
According to my bmi I'm overweight. (25.1)
I'm currently normal, but I did gain 10 pounds in 4 weeks.
Ask me again in 13x4 weeks and see if I (almost) doubled in size.
Old , Ugly and slow
This is great i am going to live along time.
pr's 5k 20.08, 5 mile 31:20, 10k 41.19 all done in the 80's
2013 goals 1500 miles, 190 pounds
So what's the deal with BMI? I'm in a similar situation; my BMI is about 22 but my body fat is around 11-12%. I could push my body fat well into "too damn lean" territory and my BMI would still say "normal."
There was a study a long time ago that found that people with top hats lived longer. Clearly, it was a sign of wealth. And if you had money, you had access to food and doctors.
You need someone with a good understanding of metrics and statistical analysis to find complex relationships. We may be missing something.
mileage hound
So what's the deal with BMI?
It is a government-adopted poor surrogate for body composition that people continue to use despite its widely recognized limitations.
2013 goals: Kick some arse. Moreso than 2012.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
"Determined is what I am. Maybe a little sick in the head? Ok who am I kidding ALOT sick in the head" -- rockenmamaof5
Express it.
According to the "standard" BMI calculator, my BMI when my avatar pic was taken puts me at the high end of overweight (27.9).
We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us, and make us kinder.We always have the choice.
I believe you will.
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