A new study provides critical perspective on cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated with overweight and obesity and challenges both the obesity paradox as well as the view that overweight is associated with greater longevity. According to the study that was published on the JAMA Cardiology on February 28, 2018 (http://bit.ly/2Fda3hL), of the 190 672 in-person examinations included in this study, the mean (SD) age was 46.0 (15.0) years for men and 58.7 (12.9) years for women, and 140 835 patients (73.9%) were female. Compared with individuals with a normal BMI (defined as a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9), lifetime risks for incident CVD were higher in middle-aged adults in the overweight and obese groups. Compared with normal weight, among middle-aged men and women, competing hazard ratios for incident CVD were 1.21 (95% CI, 1.14-1.28) and 1.32 (95% CI, 1.24-1.40), respectively, for overweight (BMI, 25.0-29.9), 1.67 (95% CI, 1.55-1.79) and 1.85 (95% CI, 1.72-1.99) for obesity (BMI, 30.0-39.9), and 3.14 (95% CI, 2.48-3.97) and 2.53 (95% CI, 2.20-2.91) for morbid obesity (BMI, ≥40.0). Higher BMI had the strongest association with incident heart failure among CVD subtypes. Average years lived with CVD were longer for middle-aged adults in the overweight and obese groups compared with adults in the normal BMI group. Similar patterns were observed in younger and older adults. The study concludes that obesity was associated with shorter longevity and significantly increased risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality compared with normal BMI. Despite similar longevity compared with normal BMI, overweight was associated with significantly increased risk of developing CVD at an earlier age, resulting in a greater proportion of life lived with CVD morbidity.
