Letter

Prognosis in obesity: Older people should not be misinformed about being overweight

BMJ 2005; 331 doi: 10.1136/bmj.331.7514.452 (Published 18 August 2005)
Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:452.1

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  1. Renuka Visvanathan, senior lecturer in geriatric medicine (renuka.visvanathan@adelaide.edu.au),
  2. Ian Chapman, associate professor
  1. Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, SA 5011, Australia
  2. Department of Medicine, University of Adelaide, SA 5011, Australia

    EDITOR—With reference to the editorial by Lean on prognosis in obesity,1 advising apparently overweight older people to lose weight may do more harm than good. Evidence suggests that the risks of being “overweight” decrease with increasing age. On the basis of mortality, the ideal body mass index (BMI) is higher in older than young adults, with an optimum BMI for people older than 65 in the …

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