A better description of the 90+ study
 

Perhaps a lot of misunderstandings could have been prevented if we had a better description of the study to begin with.

UCI MIND The 90+ Study - UCI MIND

Researchers have published many papers; here are some of the results:

1) People who drank moderate amounts of alcohol lived longer than those who abstained.

2) People who were overweight in their seventies lived longer than normal or underweight people did.

3) Over 40% of people aged 90 and older suffer from dementia while almost 80% are disabled. Both are more common in women than men.

Point #2 uses the term "overweight". That's a BMI of 25 to 29.9 That's what I would call "overfat", and likely to keep a person from making it to 80 or 90 in the first place. And, if they do make it, they will either have dementia or be otherwise disabled.

The Nurses' Health Study of 100,000 women
 

BarryRX,

Thanks for the information you provided in previous posts, it's much appreciated.

Perhaps you might be interested in the following study which was a much bigger study:

The Nurses' Health Study of 100,000 women.

It found the lowest mortality rate for those with BMIs of less than 19. That's considered skinny.

As the BMI went up from 19 to 25, the risk of death, from all causes, went up 20%

BMIs rising to 28 raised the risk of death to 60%

BMIs of 29 and higher raised the risk of death to 100%

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Note: Abdominal fat is an important indicator of mortality and disease susceptibility. A large pot belly raises the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Fred Astaire, as ultra thin as he was, lived to age 88. That's 10 years longer than the average overweight American.

Katharine Hepburn, another thin person, lived to the ripe old age of 96.

Jack LaLanne, who was very fit and lean, lived to age 96.

A common sense question:
 

Being that we live in a society where 2/3 of people are overweight, isn't it likely that more overweight people will make it to age 90+ simply because there are more of them?

First an admission I was reared in the North East and the only definition I heard of ragtime was associated with bands. The North East is a large and I suspect the ragtime meaning absurd is local

The problem with studies is that are loaded with errors. Also they contain confirmation bias so that data is manipulated. There is also natural obfuscations. for example when they did the study of meat as it related to heart disease one group they studied was said to not eat meat, especially red meat. However the period under review was during Lent and the locals abstained from meat and practiced fasting.

So when any study suggests doing something or not doing it, I proceed with caution. and while at least one poster abhors the term moderation I really do apply moderation, unlike my brother who also claims moderation followed by I like moderation and a lot of it.

I

But back to the subject, the study was NOT discussing people who are obese. In my opinion, simply put, It was NOT meant to focus on anything but studying people over ninety who were not having dementia and seeing what the commonalities were among the group.

They noted that people seem to do better in their nineties if they were a LITTLE overweight rather than underweight.

I just figure that, if the results are available to the public, then they are intended to manipulate us.

Drive by any hospital and see how many nurses are outside smoking. I worked with a doctor that was in a study, taking an aspirin a day. However, he smoked 2 packs a day. Studies don't give the whole picture. I was 120 pounds at 21, I would look anorexic today at that weight.

Fred Astaire was 5'9" and usually weighed 140. His bmi was 20.7 which is normal.
Katherine Hepburn was 5'8" and weighed 125. Her bmi was 19 which is still in the normal range.
I could not find LaLanes weight and height.

To me this must be the size of a perfect person who is not yet old enough to be in the study.

Bump.

And Joan Rivers lived to be 81. All anecdotal and doesn't prove anything.

Jack LaLanne was 5'6" tall and clearly assiduously maintained a low BMI. He had an older brother Norman who lived from 1908 until 2005 so genetics were probably involved. I know nothing of Norman's diet or exercise practices.

Joan Rivers had numerous plastic surgeries and smoked pot. Some might say she is lucky to have lived as long as she did.

Gracie, words mean things. You capitalized the word "LITTLE" as in a LITTLE overweight. The actual study doesn't say "a little overweight."
It says, "overweight", period. That means a person could go all the way up to a BMI of 29.9 which is borderline obese. 30 or greater = obese.

A little overweight would be a little over 24.9 (25 or more). But even that is too much because there's no limit placed on the percentage of body fat. Most people lose muscle as they age so a BMI of 26, 27, 28 or 29.9 would likely represent a very high percentage of body fat. Perhaps as high as 40+ percent body fat?

What does all that extra body fat have to do with health and longevity, especially if it puts one at higher risk for cancer, heart disease and diabetes? To not address this body fat issue means, to me, that something is very wrong with the 90+ study.

This study is a dream come true for the food industry. Did they gain influence by donating a large sum of money to the University? Just because they didn't fund the study directly, doesn't mean that they don't have a lot of influence

Yes, nurses represent a cross section of the population. Some smoke and some don't although we don't know if they accepted smokers to participate in the nurses study. In most of these big studies (whether doctors or nurses) they have a way to account or adjust for these things. If you can think of it, they've thought of it too.

I think I did read something related to smoking. I believe it said something to the effect that the lower the BMI the better, as long as it's not associated with disease. So, for example, if someone was a heavy smoker and died thin of lung disease, it wouldn't count against being thin. It would count against smoking.