International Collaborative Study Reinforces the Dangers of Excess Weight

Coverage From HSPH News, featuring Shilpa Bhupathiraju and Frank Hu: 

Being overweight or obese is associated with a higher risk of dying prematurely than being normal weight—and the risk increases with additional pounds, according to a large international collaborative study led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the University of Cambridge, UK. The findings contradict recent reports that suggest a survival advantage to being overweight—the so-called “obesity paradox…”

“This international collaboration represents the largest and most rigorous effort so far to resolve the controversy regarding BMI and mortality,” said Shilpa Bhupathiraju, research scientist in the Department of Nutrition at Harvard Chan School and co-lead author of the study.