May 23, 2013
A study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported findings that surprised even researchers: being slightly overweight doesn't affect mortality rates.
As a result, excess weight could drop from the second leading cause of preventable death down to the seventh, but a local dietitian says it shouldn't affect what people do to stay healthy.
"It is not a carte blanc to go eat all you want, gain a ton of weight and you'll be ok," says Susan Miller. "We still need to remember that keeping our weight down, keeping blood pressure down, keeping cholesterol down is a very important step to take."
The CDC says being overweight only accounts for around 26,000 deaths per year, down from the 365,000 estimated earlier this year.
The study is published in this month's Journal of the American Medical Association and can be found on their website: jama.ama-assn.org.
