My One Ambition .... To Be Overweight

Coming hot on the heels of all the research which clearly shows that the incidence of every disease from piles to pneumonia increases with every pound you carry over and above stick-insect weight, is a new piece of research carried out by the American National Cancer Institute and the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. For the first time, a team of researchers looked at the relationship between mortality (death rates) and weight. Not surprisingly, they found the highest mortality rates amongst the obese. And the lowest mortality rates? One would expect to see these amongst people in either the "normal" or the "underweight" ranges. Wrong. The lowest mortality rates were amongst the group classed as "overweight". According to their report - published in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association - the researchers found that in 2004 (the latest year for which data was available) there were more than 100,000 fewer deaths among the overweight than would have been expected if these people had been of normal weight.

The study found that although "overweight" people had a higher chance of dying from cardio-vascular disease than people of normal weight, the situation was more than reversed when diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, infections and lung diseases were taken into account. Dr Mitchell Gail, a cancer institute specialist and one of the main authors of the paper, said that in his personal opinion as a physician and researcher ... "if you are in the pink and feeling well and getting a good amount of exercise and if your doctor is very happy with your lab values and other tests, then I an=m not sure there is any urgency to change your weight"

Now isn't that an interesting thought to chew over as you have your dinner.