Is overweight a misnomer?

Posted on November 7, 2007 
Filed Under Obesity

A few weeks ago, we discussed a paper published in 2005 showing that people who are defined as overweight (BMI of 25-<30) actually have the lowest risk of mortality. Today, a new paper sheds more light on the association between BMI and mortality by looking at specific causes of death.

It turns out that people who are officially defined as overweight have a lower overall risk of mortality because they are less likely to die from diseases like Alzheimer’s, infections, and lung disease. At the same time, being overweight (but not obese) does not appear significantly to increase the risk of dying from cancer or heart disease.

In a New York Times story about this paper, several observers echoed some of our discussion in class:

Some who studied the relation between weight and health said the nation might want to reconsider what are ideal weights.

“If we use the criteria of mortality, then the term ‘overweight’ is a misnomer,” said Daniel McGee, professor of statistics at Florida State University.

“I believe the data,” said Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, a professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego. A body mass index of 25 to 30, the so-called overweight range, “may be optimal,” she said.

But as some of you suggested in class, mortality isn’t the only relevant outcome. Others argue that people who are overweight are more likely to develop heart disease, diabetes, and other conditions even if they are not more likely to die prematurely as a result.

On that note, another paper in today’s issue of JAMA examined self-reports of disability among people of varying weights at two points in time. They show that people defined as obese (BMI ? 30) are more likely to be disabled and that the disability gap between people in the obese and normal-weight categories has increased over time. But this finding appears to hold only for the obese category. People with BMIs in the range of 25-30—officially overweight—do not report higher levels of disability.

Causes of Death Are Linked to a Person’s Weight - New York Times

Comments

2 Responses to “Is overweight a misnomer?”

  1. Krysten Barreto on November 12th, 2007 2:59 pm

    I think that this is a very interesting article. Even though overweight people might have lower mortality rates, i do agree witht he fact that they are at risks for other things. So even though they might not die from cancer or things like that, it is possible for them to die from a sequence of things that arise from being overwieght.
    I agree with the fact that people that are obese are more likely to be disabled. People who are obese generally have problems doing certain activities, like walking for long periods of time and going upstairs. Moevement , while being obese, puts alot of strain on the body. This puts them at a higher risk of injury and a greater chance of getting a disability. Even though it says that people that are officially overweight do not report higher levels of disability, you have to take into consideration that diability might mean something different to everyone. What you might consider a disability might not be for someone else. this could be either because they dont see it as one or because they’ve had it for a while and have learned to live with it. This also goes the other way. Something you might not consider a disability , might be one for someone that is overweight.
    On a last note i think that being overweight can be considered a misnomer because overweight is different for everyone. I know many people of different heights that are considered obese according to the system of measuring obesity. These people are no where near being obese. they are skinny, healthy athletic people. But because of the fact that their weight falls into this “obese” category then they are considered overweight. Take into consideration body builders, those that srtive to be big and muscular. What if your 5 foot tall and weigh 200lbs because of all of the muscle mass y ou have from body building. According to chart you would be considered to be overweight, however you really arent. So i feel that being overweight is different for everyone and should be seen as an individual case for everyone.

  2. Kristina Chechotka on November 19th, 2007 10:54 pm

    For some reason, I do not find it highly surprising that people who are overweight do not have higher mortality rates than people who are not overweight. When I think about it, people who are just the “right size” have little body fat to sustain them when they get sick. For example, when someone gets chemotherapy, side effects include symptoms like nausea. If this causes a person of normal weight to stop eating, he or she is going to drop weight and waste away more quickly because the body does not have much fat to break down in the absence of food. A person with enough body fat won’t have the same problem.

    Krysten brings up a valid point about the meaning of disability. Certainly the definition varies from person to person, and this impacts self-reported data. One person’s disability is another’s fact of life. I feel that it is important to elicit some definitions of “disability” from the people who are reporting the data.

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