Causes of Death Are Linked to a Person’s Weight – New York Times

About two years ago, a group of federal researchers reported that overweight people have a lower death rate than people who are normal weight, underweight or obese. Now, investigating further, they found out which diseases are more likely to lead to death in each weight group.

Interestingly, the study found that while overweight people did have an increased chance of dying of heart disease, they were not significantly more likely to die of cancer, and in fact seemed to be overall less likely to die of diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimers.

I mention this article not especially because I think that being overweight is a good thing (technically, my weight has creeped back up into the level of “obese”, and I’m not especially happy about that) but merely to mention that the entire concept of what is an ideal weight is the subject of some serious, reasonable debate, and if you are currently deemed overweight, there likely is no actual rational reason to panic. We all should watch what we eat, limit our portions, manage our stress and get exercise. More than that? We probably shouldn’t panic.