Why extra fat is not always deadly and might even help people survive

 

Why extra fat is not always deadly and might even help people survive some illnesses is unclear and in fact disputed by many health experts.

But University of South Carolina obesity researcher Steven Blair, who says people can be fat and fit, is a believer. He called the report a careful and plausible analysis, and said Americans have been whipped into a "near hysteria" by hype over the U.S.'s obesity epidemic.

While the epidemic is real, the number of deaths attributed to it and to being overweight has been exaggerated, Blair said.

People should focus instead on healthful eating and exercise, and stop obsessing about carrying a few extra pounds or becoming supermodel thin, Blair said.

He says his hefty grandmother used to justify her extra padding, saying, '"That way I have protection in case I get sick.' Maybe there is something to that."

A little extra weight might provide "additional nutritional reserves" that could help people battle certain diseases, Flegal said.

Dr. Robert Eckel, a spokesman for the American Heart Association, argued that the results may be misleading. For example, diabetes and heart disease often occur together and both often afflict overweight people. So when diabetes is listed as a cause of death, heart disease could have contributed, he said.

Eckel also said the study results might reflect aggressive efforts to treat high blood pressure and cholesterol or other conditions that can lead to fatal heart attacks. Those conditions often occur in overweight people and can be costly and debilitating even if they are not always deadly, he said.

Obesity researcher Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, agreed, noting that the study "is about death. This is not about health and sickness."

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