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Are overweight elders at elevated risk for death, compared with those whose weight is normal? To find out, Israeli researchers identified about 2400 Jerusalem elders (age range, 70–85 at baseline) and followed them for 3 to 18 years. Normal, overweight, and obese were defined as body-mass index (BMI) of 18 to 24.9 kg/m2, 25 to 29.9, and ≥30, respectively.
In analyses that were adjusted for potentially confounding factors that could predispose to death, women who were overweight or obese had significantly lower mortality than women with normal BMIs. In men, mortality was similar in all three BMI categories. In additional analyses, the researchers omitted deaths that occurred during the first several years of follow-up, to account for “reverse…