Comfortably healthy

Fuss, alarm & rejoicing met the JAMA paper which reported that those who are overweight (though not the dangerously obese) are healthier than those who are in the so-called desirable range for BMI.

I have not had time to read the whole paper but I wonder if this might not, in part at least, represent the same problem which bedevils alcohol studies, which may also show a U-shaped curve for risk, suggesting that moderate drinking is better than total abstention.

But they say, some people abstain because they are already ill - & not just with alcoholism.

Some people are thin because they are ill & in my opinion a BMI of 18.5 (reduced from 20 in 1997) as the lower limit for ‘healthy’ makes it even more likely that poorly people will fall into this category. I base this purely on my own size – never remotely overweight, but 9 stone is too thin for my height. Conversely we know that many people, who are also not fat but well-muscled, will easily have a BMI of over 30

Link
Association of All-Cause Mortality With Overweight and Obesity Using Standard BMI Categories: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis