Overweight And Obesity Not Linked To Increased Risk Of Death: Previous Studies Of Increased Risk of Death From Obesity Done Before Obesity Was Widespread

From "Above-Normal Weight Alone Does Not Increase The Short-Term Risk Of Death" on ScienceBlog:

An evaluation of national data by UC Davis researchers has found that extra weight is not necessarily linked with a higher risk of death.

When compared to those with normal weight, people who were overweight or obese had no increased risk of death during a follow-up period of six years. People who were severely obese did have a higher risk, but only if they also had diabetes or hypertension.

The findings, which appear in the July-August issue of The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, call into question previous studies – using data collected when obesity was less common – linking higher short-term mortality with any amount of extra weight.