Eat more, live longer?

A recent study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute report that there “100,000 fewer deaths among the overweight in 2004, the most recent year for which data were available, than would have expected if those people had been of normal weight.”

This study, and others, have, according to the New York Times led experts to think about re-examining the relationship between weight and health. They should also re-examine what they’ve peddled as an ideal weight.

“If we use the criteria of mortality, then the term ‘overweight’ is a misnomer,” said Daniel McGee, professor of statistics at Florida State University.

“I believe the data,” said Dr. Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, a professor of family and preventive medicine at the University of California, San Diego. A body mass index of 25 to 30, the so-called overweight range, “may be optimal,” she said.

The question, however, is will the media report these studies with the same zeal they did the now-debunked CDC report claiming obesity kills 400,000 people yearly. And will Morgan Spurlock run a correction?