Overweight, obesity, coronary heart disease and mortality
By: Ancel Keys
Series: W.O. Atwater Memorial Lecture -- 1980
Publisher: Nutrition Foundation
Published: 1980
Place of publication: Washington, D.C
Language: eng
Number of pages: 11
Subjects: Coronary heart disease; Mortality; Obesity; Risk factors; Health surveys
Description: Abstract: At the turn of the century, life insurance statistics were the indicators of the risks associated with extreme thinness (possible tuberculosis, a leading killer) and later with obesity. While these actuarial figures give some indication of heart disease mortality rates associated with weight extremes, they are not a representative sample. Life insurance companies continue to expound the evils of overweight, although mounting evidence from recent studies indicates high risk only for a very small percentage of extreme cases. The studies not reporting an association between obesity and coronary heart disease include 6 American studies (longshoremen, airline pilots, L.A. civil servants, etc.) and 6 European studies, almost all on men middle-aged or over. The consensus indicates that relative body weight is not a good predictor of death due to coronary heart disease.
Notes: Reprinted from Nutrition reviews, v. 38, no. 9, Sept. 1980.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 10-11).