Overweight people live longer: Study

A bit of extra weight could actually help you live longer, according to new research which found that men and women who are slightly plump have longer lives than those who are slimmer.

US researchers analysed results of almost 100 studies and found that those judged to be slightly overweight were 6 per cent less likely to have died by the end of the study period than those of normal weight. However, those who were any bigger were around a third more likely to die during the months or years they were being studied than those of normal weight, the Daily Mail reported.

In the latest study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, US government researchers read 91 previous research papers on the topic from around the world.

They looked at the subjects' body mass index (BMI) at the start of the research and how likely they were to have died by the end of it.

People are classified as being of normal weight if they have a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 and overweight if their reading is between 25 and 29.9.

A BMI higher than 29.9 is classified as obese and the bigger the reading the greater the risks to health are thought to be.

Having a BMI of between 30 and 34.9, and so being slightly obese, also did not seem to harm health.

However, those whose BMI was greater than this were 29 per cent less likely to live to see the end of the study than those whose weight was classed as normal.

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