Dylan Armajani: Run Past Your Goals and Find Yourself
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The case for gaining a few pounds
Posted on Jan 27th 2008 9:00AM by Jacki DonaldsonFiled Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment
Just as study after study tells us we Americans could stand to lose a few pounds, a new report emerges and reveals that carrying a few extra pounds may actually help us live longer.
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute checked death records for 37,000 adults and found that people who were overweight had no greater risk of dying from cancer or heart disease than those registering at normal weights. Even more shocking: The overweight group was less likely to die from chronic respiratory disease, infections, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. This group was at higher risk for death by diabetes and kidney disease but overall, people in the overweight category outlived the obese, the underweight, and people at normal weight.
Researchers are not sure why being overweight has a life-prolonging effect but it could be that extra pounds offer a reserve during illness and recovery from major surgeries.
No doubt, this news has inspired strong reactions. Some say it should be completely disregarded in favor of other studies maintaining extra weight can shorten the life span. Some say living longer doesn't matter if quality of life is compromised, which may the case for the overweight who survive longer than others. Those in favor of this research say the hazards of being overweight, in terms of mortality, have been exaggerated.
Do we need to rethink what it means to be overweight?
Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute checked death records for 37,000 adults and found that people who were overweight had no greater risk of dying from cancer or heart disease than those registering at normal weights. Even more shocking: The overweight group was less likely to die from chronic respiratory disease, infections, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's disease. This group was at higher risk for death by diabetes and kidney disease but overall, people in the overweight category outlived the obese, the underweight, and people at normal weight.
Researchers are not sure why being overweight has a life-prolonging effect but it could be that extra pounds offer a reserve during illness and recovery from major surgeries.
No doubt, this news has inspired strong reactions. Some say it should be completely disregarded in favor of other studies maintaining extra weight can shorten the life span. Some say living longer doesn't matter if quality of life is compromised, which may the case for the overweight who survive longer than others. Those in favor of this research say the hazards of being overweight, in terms of mortality, have been exaggerated.
Do we need to rethink what it means to be overweight?
