Being overweight at any point increases risk for death

People who are obese or overweight at any point in their adult lives are at greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other causes than those who maintain a normal weight, according to an analysis of data from three large cohort studies published in Annals of Internal Medicine.1

The researchers said that looking at a person’s weight history reverses the paradoxical association between overweight and reduced mortality seen in some studies. A meta-analysis published in 2013 in JAMA had extensive media attention when it concluded that people who were overweight had a lower risk for death than those …