‘Overweight’ Chinese show lowest death risk – study

Chinese men and women on the verge of what is considered overweight among Caucasians actually showed the lowest risk of death when compared to their own cultural counterparts, according to a study.

The 10-year study followed nearly 59,000 men and nearly 66,000 women in Taiwan and examined the links between mortality and body mass index, a mathematical formula that uses height and weight.

Most people fall somewhere on the spectrum of 18 to 35. The US Centers for Disease Control considers a BMI of 25 to 29 overweight and 30 or higher obese, and says those groups face a higher risk of diseases and health problems.

Similar associations were seen when the researchers analysed data by age, smoking and pre-existing disease, the study said.

In the Taiwan study, “the lowest risk of death was observed among men and women who had a BMI of 24.0 to 25.9,” said the study published in the Canadian Medical Journal.

“In this population-based prospective study, we found a U-shaped association between BMI and all-cause mortality among adult Chinese people in Taiwan,” the study said. “The risk of death was higher among people people with BMIs in the lower and upper categories than those with BMIs in the middle category.”