Most of us are wise enough to know that it’s not good to be too thin or too heavy. We also know that all other things being equal, if someone smokes or if they have a chronic disease such as diabetes, that’s just going to complicate things.

There was a study in 2006 and another more recent Canadian study that reported overweight people lived longer than normal-weight people. The more recent study was published online June 18 in the journal Obesity.

The responses to this study are the same as the one 3 years ago. Study co-author Mark Kaplan, a professor of community health at Portland State University says it best:

“It may be that a few extra pounds protected older people as their health declines, but that doesn’t mean that people in the normal range should try to put on a few pounds,”.

In 2006 the researchers backed off after conceding that the results may have been skewed by including people with chronic diseases who tend to weigh less but die earl.

On the other hand, the recent study did show that extreme obesity or weight loss did increase the risk of dying. Also, the study just spoke about mortality, not about the quality of life because there are so many negative health consequences associated with being overweight such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

My point: not much is black or white.  Read the research report and look for comments about the findings before you act on any of the findings. Then use your common sense.

Does this make sense for you?

To your success at healthy aging.
Ruthan Brodsky

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Filed under: Aging Gracefully

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