here is some controversy as to whether excess weight increases mortality. Conventional wisdom suggests that being overweight increases the risk of disease and death, and to a certain extent this is true. However, researchers and the mainstream medical establishment have attempted to simplify a complex association by predicting mortality from body mass index (BMI). Unfortunately as with many things, this process has been politicised and as such the real picture is hidden behind the usual propaganda, lies and deception that has infested modern government. This has resulted in changes to the World Health Organisation guidelines for being overweight (downwards from 27 to 25 kg/m2) which has subsequently lead to millions of individuals being reclassified from normal to overweight. Looking a little deeper shows us that body mass index is associated with increased mortality, but there are caveats that should not be ignored (although they often are).
The association between BMI and mortality has been extensively researched in the literature and generally studies agree that BMI is positively correlated to the risk of death. For example, in one study published in the International Journal of Obesity1, researchers analysed data from a cohort of male physicians to determine the relationship between mortality and BMI. The results showed that those with a BMI of less than 20 kg/m2 had a relative risk of death of 0.88 when compared to those with a body mass index of between 22.5 and 24.9 kg/m2. As BMI increased the risk of death increased, such that those men with a BMI of 30.0 to 34.9 kg/m2 had a relative risk of death of 1.45 and those with a BMI of over 35 kg/m2 had a relative risk of death of 1.62, when compared to those with a BMI of 22.5 to 24.9 kg/m2. Therefore mortality appears to increase with increasing BMI, suggesting that excess weight is unhealthy.
Ignoring the political aspect of the BMI and mortality association shows us that mortality does not increase significantly until a BMI of around 27 kg/m2. Below this the risk of ill health is minimal and generally no adverse effects on mortality can be detected. However, a number of caveats to this relationship are well known to researchers but almost never discussed in the mainstream. Firstly, only abdominal (visceral) fat increases mortality. Subcutaneous peripheral fat is not associated with mortality, and therefore those with a higher subcutaneous to abdominal fat ratio, even considering the same BMI, have a lower risk of death. Black Africans are one such group that show such a characteristic and as such their risk of death for a particular BMI is lower than an equivalent non-black individual. In addition, BMI has been shown to become inaccurate when muscle mass increases, and as such athletes do not fit with the association.
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