The New York Times reports that there is a study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association stating that there are health benefits to being overweight.1 Those classified as being "overweight" have a lower risk of death than any of the other 3 groups ("underweight," "normal" and "obese"). Apparently such persons, at a Body Mass Index between 25 and 30, have a lower risk of death from some diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, infections and lung disease, that outweighs their risk of death from other diseases. These results apparently persisted even after factoring out smokers, which I am under the impression are the bulk of lung disease deaths.
Some researchers apparently think this means we should redefine "normal." Others think that the differences in health short of death outweigh the likelihood of dying sooner. Go figure.
Ms. Gina Kolata. "Causes of Death Are Linked to a Personâs Weight" New York Times (online) Health section. 2007-11-07. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/07/health/07fat.html?ex=1352091600&en=df14080d2f4189b6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss ↩