A new study in the New England Journal of Medicine strongly suggests that being overweight, even by a little bit, can increase your risk for early death.
Looking at data from nearly 1.5 million people, this study is powerful, statistically. Overweight people had a 13% greater chance of death than normal weight people, after controlling for the usual risk factors (age, physical activity, alcohol consumption, education, and marital status). All participants were non-smokers. Obese people had as much as an 88% chance of premature death, although this relationship has been known for some time.
Critics of the study say that researchers did not pay enough attention to the role of physical activity in risk of death, even though the study did control for it.
All participants in the study were healthy non-smokers when the study began, and most were white.
References
Study says even being a bit overweight is risky. (YAHOO NEWS)
Body-Mass Index and Mortality among 1.46 Million White Adults. (NEJM STUDY)
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