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Evidence strongly suggests that overweight (body-mass index, 25–30 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI, >30) are associated with risk for premature death. However, how adiposity affects health among those who actually survive to old age is less clear. Using data from the prospective Nurses' Health Study (NHS), investigators examined the associations between healthy survival (i.e., free from major chronic diseases, including myocardial infarction, cancer, and stroke) in old age and adiposity in early adulthood or midlife.
More than 17,000 women who were healthy at NHS enrollment in 1976 (mean baseline age, 50) and who survived beyond age 70 were included in the study. About 1700 women were still healthy at age 70. After adjustment for confounders, increa…