http://singularityhub.com/2010/09/02/heavy-drinkers-outlive-non-drinkers-longevity-never-tasted-so-good/

“We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Those two things help to confound the findings for people who are ‘overweight’ according to BMI.

In addition to the so called ‘fat paradox’ (i.e. healthy fat people), there are other anomalies, e.g. anecdotally I know an anomalously high number of slender, physically active, non-smoking, non-drinking middle aged southern Han males who have very high blood pressure, some of whom are also diabetic; and, curiously, have a high incidence of gout.

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2010 Jan;18(1):214-8. Epub 2009 Jun 18.
BMI and mortality: results from a national longitudinal study of Canadian adults.
Orpana HM, Berthelot JM, Kaplan MS, Feeny DH, McFarland B, Ross NA.
SourceHealth Analysis Division, Statistics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. horpana@uottawa.ca

Abstract
Although a clear risk of mortality is associated with obesity, the risk of mortality associated with overweight is equivocal. The objective of this study is to estimate the relationship between BMI and all-cause mortality in a nationally representative sample of Canadian adults. A sample of 11,326 respondents aged >or=25 in the 1994/1995 National Population Health Survey (Canada) was studied using Cox proportional hazards models. A significant increased risk of mortality over the 12 years of follow-up was observed for underweight (BMI <18.5; relative risk (RR) = 1.73, P 35; RR = 1.36, P <0.05). Overweight (BMI 25 to <30) was associated with a significantly decreased risk of death (RR = 0.83, P 0.05). Our results are similar to those from other recent studies, confirming that underweight and obesity class II+ are clear risk factors for mortality, and showing that when compared to the acceptable BMI category, overweight appears to be protective against mortality. Obesity class I was not associated with an increased risk of mortality.

And some more interesting articles:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=the-best-body-mass-index-for-low-mo-2010-12-01
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21345101 (Asians)
http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/173/4/430.long (overweight may not be healthiest, but may still be longest lived)

Melissa, I wanted to get your advice on something – the other day I was confronted by “double boiled snow frog with deer placenta paste and fish maw.” Would that be industrial food? For the record, I passed – I saw what the placenta looked like when my daughter was born, and there’s no way I’m putting that stuff in my mouth.

that’s why i said ‘human flourishing.’ really the issue with obesity is multi-textured. reducing to one element alone (health, beauty, reflection of self-control) misses the bigger picture.

Omar, I haven’t followed this recently or much. Is this robust? I seem to remember something about smokers accounting for it, because cigarettes make you you slimmer, but not healthier.

Sorry, but it’s a drag to live in a country with such high levels of obesity, in part because it artificially inflates the value and ego of remaining thin women and also because it makes the experience of being in public much less pleasant. I like to see pretty things as I walk down the street. When you visit Europe, you realize what a drastic difference it makes in terms of the quality of life. Why would we want want that here? Whenever I return from Europe, I take one look at the size of the women at the airport that I return to, and go, “Great…I’m home. Why, America? Why?”

I already said that in post #3. Although I’m actually increasingly more saggy than pudgy as I progress through my 60′s.

“And yes, some people who are just moderately overweight don’t lose weight merely by cutting calories and exercising. Have you ever heard of set-point theory? Leptin resistance?”

Faddist hoo-hah. The number of long-term scientific dietetic studies where the subjects food intake was closely monitored 24/7 are practically non-existent. People cheat.

Any “moderately over-weight” healthy human omnivore just needs to add some extra exercise or cut-out a meal or two to get over any “set-points.”

“Over concern for personal appearance or worse yet, other peoples appearance is a sign that you are either a girl or gay.”

I’m guessing you are a tad bit pudgy Dudes are quite concerned with the physical appearance of women. I got way more attention from men when I ditched the spare tire. I totally admit that I’m a girl though.

And yes, some people who are just moderately overweight don’t lose weight merely by cutting calories and exercising. Have you ever heard of set-point theory? Leptin resistance? I guess you could argue everyone overweight has a pathological metabolic disorder though.

We aren’t talking about appearance per se here, we are talkin about metabolic syndrome. It is true that some people have this without having obesity. There is a good amount of evidence these people consume more health care dollars. I don’t want kids in school being made to feel bad about being fat, but I don’t want it preached as a “lifestyle choice” either.

“Part of them problem is that people are told to just eat less and exercise and they’ll be thin.”

Why is it a “problem” since it is true of anyone without a pathological metabolic disorder. Although I will concede that food faddism is only a sign of being female rather than homosexual. In fact, given the widespread prevalence of fat lesbians, I would say the preponderance of food faddists are heterosexual girls (with a slight sprinkling of right-wing anti-vaccination/flouride nuts.)

“most people wouldn’t care very much about that lifestyle choice if we didn’t think it cost more of our tax dollars.”

Except the problem you mentioned – fat bastards get in the way. This is not trivial.

Either way, it’s kind of amusing that most fat acceptance folks are lefty because a lot of dislike for the obese is rooted in the fact that people perceive them as taking up more than their fair share of government-provided resources like health care. Whether that’s true remains to be seen, but most people wouldn’t care very much about that lifestyle choice if we didn’t think it cost more of our tax dollars.

It’s interesting about the Swedes because compare their obesity rates to the Finnish, despite almost identical food cultures. The Finnish are much heavier in general and rates of many “diseases of civilization” are much higher in that rather genetically distinct population. Some Finns told me that they think it’s because they are closer to hunter-gatherers. Either way, their diets look so much better than the diets of the “transitional” populations where obesity is such a big problem like India, Saudi Arabia, the Pacific Islands, Mexico. Lots of whole foods, many full-fat…

My wife tells everyone that I’m wonderfully self-disciplined, but it’s not that. I have to conclude that it’s basically just because I enjoy it – I enjoy doing it, and enjoy what it does to me. I feel like shit if I don’t do it. But that’s me, not everyone.

So I think it’s really not helpful to tell fat people that the secret to becoming less fat is to be more physically active. In my case, I do think that exercise is more important than diet, within reason. But I have some close family who are obese, and I know what it’s like for them – it’s really not helpful to keep telling them they need to be more active, they know. I can tell them what to do, but that’s the easy part. The hard part is to find a physical activity that is enjoyable, and find the time to do it, because essentially it needs to become like breathing. Everyone is different, and what I might find induces euphoria is just unmitigated torture for other people.

I’m not unsympathetic to fat liberation, but it would seem perverse to make a virtue of it – there has to be a solution for people who don’t want to be fat. There is – exercise strenuously every day, and be intelligently selective about what you eat and drink – experiment with what works for you, because everyone is different, but there are some obvious general fundamentals. But saying that is a lot easier than doing it long term for a lot of people, and once they become genuinely obese, it becomes hugely difficult.