Diet and Die Younger

"Those who stuck to their commitment to dieting were more likely to die young than those who stayed fat"

This surprising study of 24,000 twins over 24 years has highlighted the health risks of dieting -- not the health risks of being fat.

It's been drummed into us for so many years - overweight = unhealthy. However there seems to be more evidence showing that, well, unhealthy = unhealthy - fat, thin, whatever. Carrying round some extra body fat is not necessarily an indicator of poor health.

“Losing weight seemed to be associated with higher mortality,” said Kaprio. “One reason for this may be that when people diet to lose weight they lose fat-free tissue as well as fat.”

Middle-aged and fat? The professor of nutrition at King's College, London, says "stay as you are".

“One paradox is that people in the West have grown so much fatter but they are also living longer,” he said. “My view is that there is a big problem with young people becoming overweight. We should be worrying more about them and less about fat middle-aged people who are probably better off staying as they are.”

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