‘Obesity paradox’: Older patients with obesity have lower mortality risk compared with those with normal BMI
'These findings should not be interpreted as evidence that excess adiposity is biologically protective,' the authors say.
Higher waist circumference is associated with higher all-cause mortality in patients aged 65 and older, independently of BMI, researchers say.
They say their study of 6905 older US adults highlights the “obesity paradox” — that older patients with overweight or obesity have lower mortality risks compared with those with normal BMI.
Compared with normal BMI, mortality odds were almost double for underweight women and men. But they were halved for men with overweight or class 1-2 obesity and 15-27% lower for women with overweight or class 1-2 obesity.
However, compared with low waist circumference (WC) — under about 101cm — men with a WC of 127cm or higher had more than double the all-cause mortality risk.
