Forums >General Running>New Research shows "Being overweight linked to lower risk of mortality"
So if you decide to run in order to lose a few pounds, it is time to stop
http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/health/overweight-mortality/index.html?hpt=he_c2
(TIME.com) -- The longest lived among us aren't necessarily those who are of normal weight, says a new study.
According to new research this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers say that being overweight may lead to a longer life.
The somewhat surprising conclusion comes from an enormous, detailed review of over 100 previously published research papers connecting body weight and mortality risk among 2.88 million study participants living around the world.
My money's on this:
Another possible explanation may involve "reverse causation": maybe being thin doesn't make you sick, as some experts argue, but instead being sick can make you thin. Being overweight may be associated with longer lives if people who lose weight because of diseases such as cancer, for example, contribute to earlier death among individuals who weigh less.
This is ridiculous. Sure, some minorly overweight people may have better heart health than some thin people. That's possible. But I doubt that goes for the vast majority. A lot of overweight and obese Americans seem to push for the view that being overweight is the new norm, and having a normal BMI is "unhealthy or too thin." This, to me, seems to be backing up this view.
My money's on this: Another possible explanation may involve "reverse causation": maybe being thin doesn't make you sick, as some experts argue, but instead being sick can make you thin. Being overweight may be associated with longer lives if people who lose weight because of diseases such as cancer, for example, contribute to earlier death among individuals who weigh less.
ditto
The study did confirm that obese people (according to BMI) are at a higher risk of early mortality.
I think most can agree that BMI is not a perfect indicator of true physical conditioning.
I doubt if I will ever reach "normal" on the BMI scale. If I do it would probably be as a result of a long illness.
I think it has a lot more to do with my short inseam and my long torso and large frame than whether I'm "overweight" or not though.
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
rather be sprinting
In particular, being overweight (not obese) is protective in OLDER people. Geriatric patients often die not from the illnesses they contract, but because they can no longer feed themselves. Therefore, some extra weight is both a) protective and b) a sign of general health in the older population.
And when you're talking about longevity that is who you're talking about... doesn't surprise me.
Young people should still stay lean.
PRs: 5k 19:25, mile 5:38, HM 1:30:56
Lifting PRs: bench press 125lb, back squat 205 lb, deadlift 245lb
So if you decide to run in order to lose a few pounds, it is time to stop http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/02/health/overweight-mortality/index.html?hpt=he_c2 (TIME.com) -- The longest lived among us aren't necessarily those who are of normal weight, says a new study. According to new research this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers say that being overweight may lead to a longer life. The somewhat surprising conclusion comes from an enormous, detailed review of over 100 previously published research papers connecting body weight and mortality risk among 2.88 million study participants living around the world.
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.
A Saucy Wench
This has been batted around for a while as of course article have picked up on one or more of those "100 previously published" papers before.
Most of what I am typing is from memory of what I have read before, some of it many years ago.
It did seem to be pretty clear that overweight is better that underweight overall.
But in the overweight (but not obese) vs. normal weight categories I remember some stuff. One was the type of diseases they may be subject to. i.e. overweight may have higher incidence of heart disease but lower incidence of some forms of cancer. Osteoporosis and the related broken hip deaths clearly lower in overweight.
Truthfully many of the obesity related mortality factors are NOT an issue for the overweight without other factors. Diabetes II is relatively uncommon unless you are predisposed. Cholesterol and blood pressure also tend to be more of a factor of predisposition than weight in the overweight category.
Some of it may indeed be screening - as a moderately overweight under 40 year old with a history of high cholesterol and every diabetes risk factor I found it virtually impossible to have cholesterol or diabetes screening done. The ONLY reason I knew I had high cholesterol is because at 21 I worked with liver toxins at my job and a complete liver panel was run annually on everyone who handled the chemicals. My friend who is 450 lbs with absolutely NO history of diabetes or high cholesterol (yeah, that kind of annoys me everytime I get screened) has his levels checked EVERY time he goes to the doctor. He went in for a bad knee and they ran a cholesterol and blood sugar screen. OTOH I know 2 skinny as rails people who didnt ever have their cholesterol screened until they started having problems and both of them were in the high 300's.
In general, excluding my runner friends, the moderately overweight people I know eat healthier and exercise more regularly than the thin population I know. They are always fighting the good fight. They are not so overweight that they have given up. They are not so thin that they grow lax. My skinny friends who have NEVER been overweight are totally different. They eat like crap, hardly exercise, have no muscle and get winded going up the stairs. They are more likely to smoke, more likely to drink to excess, and more likely to consider a diet coke a meal. Both of my high cholesterol skinny friends ate fried food like it was going out of style "because they can"However, I think "blessing" the overweight is a dangerous thing. How many would fight the good fight if they WERENT feeling unhealthy if they did.
And there is the problem that the mental picture of obesity and overweight is totally skewed in America. Part of it is the media. Whenever they do a report on obesity the person or photo they use is of someone MORBIDLY obese, not someone "merely" obese. And that leads to a huge denial in people. I myself was downright pissed off the first time a BMI scale called me obese. I wasnt THAT bad (mental image of Mike & Molly show) I was merely a bit chubby. If you bless the "overweight" status in this country you will lend denial to the mildly obese.
It's funny, I had a perfect example of this denial this morning. I am obese. I am. No denial. I know why, and it is what it is. And I said it as a statement of fact to my running partners and got "Oh that is BULLSHIT" "That doesnt count for you because you are fit" "You have more muscle" etc. etc. etc. Denial abounds.
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
note that several explanations to the link are listed. BUT what surprises me most is:
the study also shows the risk is not related to smoking status.
I've seen reports about studies showing the group of BMI=23-25 having the longest life. There're many things that can play a role as seen in the news report. But, it's not clear what the BMI used in those studies is, at the time of death, for example. And I don't think they conclude on that overweight leads to long life or overweight is linked to being healthy.
note that several explanations to the link are listed. BUT what surprises me most is: the study also shows the risk is not related to smoking status.
this isnt saying that smoking doesnt kill you. It's just saying they factored out "being skinny because you smoke" and the correlation was still there.
"That advantage held among both men and women, and did not appear to vary by age, smoking status, or region of the world."
I thought that it means the same weight/BMI group w/ or w/o smoking shows no difference in mortality risk. No?
"That advantage held among both men and women, and did not appear to vary by age, smoking status, or region of the world." I thought that it means the same weight/BMI group w/ or w/o smoking shows no difference in mortality risk. No?
No it means the advanatge assciated with slightly overweightness exist universally. That is, of two persons who are
of the same age, who neither smoke or both smoke, from teh same geographic area, the slightly overweigt one is
expected to live longer than the other one.
umm..
No.
Making up numbers off the top of my head for clarity and simplifying the math greatly
Lets say that overall smokers have a 50% increased mortality rate vs. non smokers.
Lets say that comparing the two groups of "Normal weight" and Overweight being normal weight has a 5% increased mortality rate vs overweight
What they are saying is not that smoking is not a morality risk but that it has THE SAME level of INCREASED risk over both groups.
Lets say overweight non smoker age 50 has a mortality risk of 20 out of 1000 dying within the next year.
Then a normal weight NON smoker age 50 would be 20*1.05 = 21 out of 1000
And an overweight SMOKER age 50 has a risk of 20*1.5 = 30 out of 1000
And a normal weight SMOKER age 50 has a risk of 21*1.5 = 31.5 out of 1000
What they are saying is that there is no ADDITIONAL smoking/weight related increase of risk.If you look at that list it also says age was not a factor . Age is still a factor in death, older people have a higher risk of dying.
Feeling the growl again
Without wasting my time reading an article I strongly suspect is garbage....
If it is BMI-based, I am strongly skeptical of ANY conclusions drawn.
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.
"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
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills