Study finds obesity associated with lower risk of premature death in women

[sarahmichigan]

Link mostly for my own reference. Out of the many lifestyle issues studied, smoking seemed to be the only one with a strong link to early mortality. Storing fat around the middle (the whole "apple shape" vs. "pear shape") appeared to be associated with early mortality, but in general, obese older women had a 30 percent LOWER risk of premature death than the non-obese.

http://junkfoodscience.blogspot.com/2007/02/study-media-overlooked-being-fat-lowers.html

Comments

[mcniadh.livejournal.com]

Is this because skinny people tend to be more dangerous?

I sort of meant this jokingly although thinking about people I know, there does seem to be a trend toward worse safety standards as body size decreases.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

I don't know! That's a funny theory, though.

I haven't looked closely at the study other than reading the abstract and sandy's commentary, so I can't comment on any causal factors, here, as opposed to just pointing out the correlation.

I do know that several other studies have shown that putting on a few pounds as you age (just one or two a year as you get past middle age, not big amounts) seems to be associated with better longevity, and intentional weight loss, especially in men, after late middle age is associated with increased risk of early death. I also know that bigger people tend to have less hip fractures as they age, which is a HUGE risk for premature death.

[munin218.livejournal.com]

Lower instance of osteoporosis, too, because our bones are weight-bearing.

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

The most important factor influencing mortality is genetics, and the importance of non-morbid, non-central obesity is generally overstated.

That said, drawing firm conclusions from one study is problematic. The proper approach is to see whether these results can be replicated in other studies, in other populations.

Single studies don't so much provide answers as they draw our awareness to questions that we should be asking.

The problem is, of course, that unpopular questions are seldom asked.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

That said, drawing firm conclusions from one study is problematic. The proper approach is to see whether these results can be replicated in other studies, in other populations.

Single studies don't so much provide answers as they draw our awareness to questions that we should be asking.

Yep, I'm aware of that. Just a data point for my on-going compilation of studies on obesity. I like to track and point out studies that run counter to the "Oh no, we're all getting fat and we're going to diiiiiiiiiiie!" hysteria.

[guttaperk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the actual danger is with severe obesity and/ or central obesity.

I blame fashion magazines, myself. :-)

[meecie.livejournal.com]

yep. This paper, while in tune with many of the conclusions I've seen elsewhere, has an extremely small sample (less than 2000 deaths to correlate with anything) for the number of variables it was tracking.

That said, I'd be very interested in seeing their results again in a few years, if they're continuing to track the same (larger) population of women who haven't died as of the publication of that study....

And (small whine here) I can't access the full text of that article via my UM library access. They apparently don't subscribe. :-/ (I could almost certainly get a dead-tree copy - I'm just not that motivated).