Being a bit overweight isn’t as bad for you as we previously thought, experts claim
SLIM people are not necessarily any healthier than their fat counterparts, a study suggests.
Most overweight people are not at greater risk of death than thinner people, US researchers found.
They tracked health records of more than 550,000 Americans to see how people’s weight affected their chances of dying from 1999 to 2018.
Dr Aayush Visaria, of Rutgers University, said: “There is no clear increase in all-cause mortality across a range of traditionally normal and overweight BMI ranges.
“Our study highlights the increasing reservations of using BMI alone to drive clinical decisions.
“However, that is not to say that morbidity is similar across these BMI ranges.”
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Around 38 per cent of adults in England are overweight, and a further 26 per cent obese.
People’s medical weight class is usually defined using a body mass index (BMI), which is measured by taking into account your height and weight.
A person is classed as normal weight if their BMI is 18.5 to 24.9, overweight if it is 25 to 29.5, and obese if it is over 30.
Obesity is linked to a range of deadly complications, including heart disease, cancer and stroke.
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The study, published in PLOS One, looked at whether a person’s BMI was directly linked to their risk of death.
People with a BMI classed as overweight had no significantly higher risk of death than those weight a normal BMI.
But for adults with a BMI of 30 or over, there was a 21 to 108 per cent increased desk risk linked to their weight.
Independent experts said the findings were unexpected.
Dr Baptiste Leurent, of University College London, said: “There was a lack of significant difference between the specific ‘overweight’ category, compared to ‘normal’ BMI category.
“This is interesting, and highlights that the definition of ‘overweight’ commonly used in medical settings may not be associated with serious health conditions.”
Dr Katarina Kos, of the University of Exeter, said: “The report of a somewhat lower risk of dying in the overweight BMI range is surprising.”