It is now well-known that obesity (BMI>29.9) or weight below the normal range (BMI<18.5) are associated with high risk of mortality. On the other hand, just being a little overweight (between 25 and 29.9) may reduce overall risk of death. These results were mainly based on a study published in 2005. However, there were some questions about possible bias due to incomplete adjustments for some risk factors such as smoking.
An update of these results with analysis for potential bias was recently published and available on NHANES website. Basically, the results remained the same and obesity and underweight both groups remained associated with high risk of death.
Of particular interest is the underweight group; while lay media has been focused on obesity, the other extreme, that is being underweight, is also associated with increased risk of death. In fact, the risk of death may be twice as high as normal weight in underweight individuals between the ages of 25 and 59 years.
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