Being Overweight Isn't All Bad, Study Says
Carrying Excess Pounds Does Not Increase Risk of Dying from Cancer or Heart Disease, Researchers Say
By Rob Stein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 7, 2007; Page A01
Being overweight boosts the risk of dying from diabetes and kidney disease but not cancer or heart disease, and carrying some extra pounds actually appears to protect against a host of other causes of death, federal researchers reported yesterday.
The counterintuitive findings, based on a detailed analysis of decades of government data about more than 39,000 Americans, supports the conclusions of a study the same group did two years ago that suggested the dangers of being overweight may be less dire than experts thought.
Full story in The Washington Post