🤔 What’s the obesity paradox?

The obesity paradox refers to the confusing finding in some studies that people who are overweight or obese are at no higher risk of death.

It’s shown on a graph as a U-shaped curve, where only individuals who are extremely underweight or extremely obese are at a higher risk of death.

🔸 It’s a paradox because it just doesn’t make sense 🔸

Obesity is linked with heart disease, diabetes, and cancer—all of which increase the risk of death.

‼️ But now researchers out of the University of Colorado in Boulder are challenging this paradox.

They analyzed data from more than 18,000 people and found some fascinating things:

🔹 BMI measurements taken in one moment of time are what have given the U-shaped curve.

🔹 What matters more is HOW MANY YEARS has a person been overweight or obese?

🔹 When looking at the duration of obesity, being overweight or obese for many years DOES correlate to a higher risk of death.

They also found that where fat was distributed in different people with the same BMI made a huge difference in health outcomes.

Is this making sense? Here’s the bottom line:

✅ More years of being overweight or obese means worse health.

✅ Body composition and abdominal fat are more important than BMI alone.

What do you think? Have they succeeded in challenging the paradox?

Reference

Masters RK. Sources and severity of bias in estimates of the BMI-mortality association. Popul Stud (Camb). 2023;77(1):35-53. [link]