|
|
|
|
|
|
by bokonist
5113 days ago
|
|
|
"and there's even stronger evidence that low-BMI people live longer," Not true. If you go by the raw numbers, your BMI of 17.6 puts you at the same death risk as someone who has a BMI around 30 (which is borderline obese):
http://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S014067360960318... Article:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673609... Both higher than typical BMI and lower BMI are associated with higher mortality risk. I don't think anyone knows which direction the causality goes ( and that is true for a lot of things, I'm think the direction of causality is unknown for a lot of these articles that say "standing is better" or "people who walk more live longer"). |
|
|
Moreover, your study recruited people at age 46 (mean) and followed them through their death. Meaning, a whole lot of people got older, got sick, subsequently lost weight and died. Unless proper adjustments were made, the low BMI-high mortality connection is rather unproven.
For a similar example, see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/canjclin.55.5.268...:
The main concern regarding the newer CDC analysis is that it did not adequately account for weight loss from serious illnesses such as cancer and heart disease. Including such individuals in the analysis created the false appearance that being overweight protected against death during the follow up.
and
The newest CDC analysis also failed to account adequately for the effect of smoking on weight. Smokers tend to be a little lighter than nonsmokers, although the negative health impact of smoking far outweighs that of a few extra pounds. As a result, the Flegal study underestimated the risks from obesity and overestimated the risks of leanness.
Regardless, I don't think we are on different pages since you acknowledged that no one really knows which direction the causality goes.