Korean Research Team Discovers Weight Is Not A Major Factor In Mortality Rate
A recent study conducted by a Korean research team reveals that there is no disparity in the mortality rate of people who are underweight and those who have normal weights, The Chosunilbo forecasted Oct. 28.
Suh II of Yonsei University led the research team who performed the large-scale study. It involves 142,629 individuals between ages 35 to 59. Participants of the study were observed for 14 years from 1993 to 2006.
Results of the study reveal that the mortality rates of underweight and normal weight people were similar at 3.7 percent in non-smoking men and 1.3 percent among non-smoking women.
"For healthy people without any existing medical condition, weight is not an important factor in mortality rate," Suh says. "The hypothesis that lack of muscle and fat is a sign of lack of nutrients is wrong."
Conversely, the death rate among underweight people who are smokers was double the rate of normal weight people among smokers at 1.7 percent.
"It is often the case that people with a long history of smoking became underweight as nicotine increases metabolism and oppresses appetite. For them, the direct cause of death is not being underweight, but their long history of smoking," Suh adds.
The results of the large-scale study conducted by the Korean research team are contrary to the findings of a research led by a physician-researcher at St. Michael's Hospital in Canada.
Health Day noted on March 28, 2014 that underweight people have greater risk for dying as compared to those who are overweight.
The study also reveals that underweight individuals from all ages face greater risk for dying 1.8 percent times greater than normal weight individuals.
"BMI reflects not only body fat, but also muscle mass," Dr. Joel Ray says in a dispatch. "If we want to continue to use BMI in health care and public health initiatives, we must realize that a robust and healthy individual is someone who has a reasonable amount of body fat and also sufficient bone and muscle."
He goes on, "If our focus is more on the ills of excess body fat, then we need to replace BMI with a proper measure, like waist circumference."
Some of the factors that are related to higher possibility of being underweight include malnourishment, drug or alcohol intake, smoking, as well as poverty and mental health problems.