The Danger of Not Appearing Fat -updated

In apparent contrast to the earlier post, here’s a new advice: Be chubby at 70.

‘A little extra weight may be a good thing for 70-somethings. In a study of people ages 70 to 75, those who were overweight—but not obese—lived longer than their peers. Those in the chubby camp were 13% less likely to die from any cause than those who were of normal weight or obese. Being underweight was the most dangerous: people in that category were 76% more likely to die.

‘Regardless of weight, activity level plays a crucial role in mortality: being sedentary increased the risk of death by 28% in men; double that in women. The reason why the extra weight is beneficial at an older age isn’t clear, but one of the researchers theorized to Time that “as we age, the presence of nutritional and metabolic reserves, that is, fat, are advantageous. If you develop an illness, a little more reserve gives you a greater chance to recover from that illness.”’ –TIME

Mayo Clinic reports that even if your weight is normal yet your body is with a high percentage of fat, you’re at greater risk for heart problems than those with lower fat. The danger is that many won’t know this (I only knew this now).

“’This is a culture obsessed with weight, but very little attention is paid to the composition of that weight,” one exercise physiologist tells the Wall Street Journal. In other words, body mass index, the calculation generally used to determine whether someone is overweight or obese, may not be enough to spot problems; your percentage of body fat matters, too, though there isn’t agreement on what is “normal.” But the findings suggest that increasing lean muscle and lowering body fat is the way to lower heart risk—which likely means hitting the gym.’ –WSJ

Let’s hope this is just hype. Maybe being underweight is the simple solution to this.