A study appearing in the November 7,2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicates that being overweight (by as much as 25 pounds) does not raise a person’s risk of dying from heart disease or cancer. Further, in the cases of emphysema, pneumonia, injuries and various infections, extra weight actually increased the rate of survival. (“Extra Weight Said Won’t Raise Death,” Associated Press)

This is not the first time that studies have demonstrated actual health benefits to being overweight. For example, always hidden in the obesity-causes-breast-cancer articles is the fact that, the weight-breast cancer link only appears in post-menopausal women; in pre-menopausal women, being overweight is actually a protection against breast cancer. (See this article in the Chicago Tribune for such an example.) Overweight is also a protection against osteoporosis.

If these studies were treated like the “overweight-kills” stories, then doctor’s should be encouraging young women to gain weight pre-menopausally as a primary means of preventing breast cancer, and the headlines should read “Fat saves lives.” (Though I have to give kudos to the headline for this story on Wired.com–“Chubby Could Be The New Healthy.”)

Keep this in mind when reading “overweight-kills” stories.

For amazing insights into the spin put on medical studies, read:

Rethinking Thin, Gina Kolata

The Obesity Myth, Paul Campos