(ABC) -- A new study raises questions about how much weight is too much.
We are often warned about the epidemic of obesity in the United States. Now, a review of existing research in the Journal of the American Medical Association may cast a new light on the problem.
In studies of more than 2.8 million people, researchers found that having a body mass index between 25 and 30, which is being overweight, but not obese, could be a good thing.
Those who were overweight had a slightly lower chance of dying from any cause than their normal weight counterparts. And the death risk for those who were just slightly obese was not significantly different than that of those with a normal BMI.
The risk of death was significantly higher for the severely obese.
One caution: Since the study only deals with associations, so it’s hard to say conclusively that being overweight is protective.
