Thick ones dry longer

Overweight people over 70 live longer than their slender peersABC Magazine
When analyzing data on the health status of 9200 Australians aged 70 to 75, an amazing conclusion was obtained: after 70 years, overweight people live longer than older citizens of normal physique.

(There is nothing surprising in this: articles that overweight, but physically active people are healthier and live longer than their thin and sedentary peers are published in scientific journals and mass media quite often — VM.)

The study began in 1996. 4677 men and 4563 women took part in it. For 10 years, scientists have been collecting data on their lifestyle, marital status and health.

Among the study participants with a body mass index (BMI) indicating overweight, mortality over these 10 years was 13% lower than among their peers who follow their figure. However, the findings relate to people who are commonly referred to as "overweight", and not to patients with a diagnosis of "obesity".

An analysis of the causes of death among the study participants showed that the diseases that caused the death of some of them — cancer, cardiovascular diseases - are not associated with body mass index. There was an assumption that increased mortality among people with normal weight may be caused by attempts to lose weight or stay at this weight. But comparing relatively healthy citizens for their age with their smoking or having chronic diseases peers, scientists also found no signs of correlation of health status with body mass index.

However, it should be borne in mind that despite the advantages of being overweight, a sedentary lifestyle has the opposite effect on its duration. Mortality among sedentary elderly people is twice as high for women and 25% higher for men.

Now scientists are faced with the question: at what level of BMI among the elderly will the lowest mortality rates be observed? The second important conclusion that can be drawn from the data obtained is that it is time to revise the BMI classification for older people. According to researchers, in old age, people face completely different risks and benefits of having excess fat reserves in their own bodies than young citizens, which must necessarily be reflected in the rules for calculating BMI.

The results of the work (Body Mass Index and Survival in Men and Women Aged 70 to 75) are published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru01.02.2010