[extropy-chat] Overweight people live longer

[Max More]

Thanks for posting this Hal. I haven't checked out all the comments it has 
provoked, but I have some initial thoughts:

Previous results like this have been critiqued (or qualified) on the basis 
that the very low-BMI group includes many seriously ill people in hospital 
who cannot keep weight on. That's not remotely comparable to healthy lean 
people. I'd like to know whether these researchers analyzed that effect and 
separated it out.

Also, I find the BMI number quite dubious. Anyone with a reasonable amount 
of muscle on them will come out as overweight, even if their bodyfat 
percentage is well below average (say 10%). A number that doesn't allow for 
differences in body composition seems to be a poor basis for making judgments.

For the record, I'm not a big fan of major caloric restriction for several 
reasons, though mild restriction seems sensible to me.

Max


At 11:42 AM 4/20/2005, Hal wrote:
>According to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical
>Association, moderately overweight people actually have lower mortality
>rates than people of supposedly ideal weights.  The study is available
>for free access at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/293/15/1861
>but here is the most relevant table:

_______________________________________________________
Max More, Ph.D.
max at maxmore.com or max at extropy.org
http://www.maxmore.com
Strategic Philosopher
Chairman, Extropy Institute. http://www.extropy.org
_______________________________________________________