--- title: What Weight Says About Your Life Span description: A study found that people who are a bit heavier are the least likely to die young. canonical: https://time.com/4339396/long-life-not-too-heavy-thin/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-19T14:00:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:37:14.499Z article:section: Health og:title: Best Chance of a Long Life? Not Too Heavy, Not Too Thin, Study Says og:description: 'Today’s overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal-weight individuals' og:url: https://time.com/4339396/long-life-not-too-heavy-thin/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8e3a144e3f7bf7d/6988939fa988ca28906b7e50/body-weight-bmi-life-span-link.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Broken scales. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Best Chance of a Long Life? Not Too Heavy, Not Too Thin, Study Says twitter:description: 'Today’s overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal-weight individuals' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8e3a144e3f7bf7d/6988939fa988ca28906b7e50/body-weight-bmi-life-span-link.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # For a Long Life, Don't Be Too Thin Or Too Heavy by [Chelsey Hamilton / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Chelsey Hamilton / Health.com May 19, 2016 2:00 PM UTC  Getty Images by [Chelsey Hamilton / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Chelsey Hamilton / Health.com May 19, 2016 2:00 PM UTC According to current guidelines, people who have a [body mass index (BMI)](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20948380%5F2,00.html) over 25 are classified as “overweight”—which is not considered to be a good thing for your health. But new research suggests it may not be quite as bad as experts thought. The surprising study, published Wednesday in _JAMA_, found that people who are a bit heavier are the least likely to die young. Using data from three different periods—1976 to 1978, 1991 to 1994, and 2003 to 2013—Danish researchers examined the [link between BMI and mortality](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2520627) in more than 120,000 people. **_Health.com:_** [_The Best Anti-Aging Secrets_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20306759,00.html?xid=time) The discovered that in the first group, folks with a BMI of 23.7 (in the “healthy” range) had the lowest risk of death. In the second cohort, the mortality rate was lowest for people with a BMI of 24.6 (which is at the high end of the healthy range). But in the most recent group, those with a BMI of 27 (roughly in the middle of the overweight range) had the lowest risk of dying from any cause. **_Health.com:_** [_10 Easy Ways to Slash Sugar From Your Diet_](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20809521,00.html?xid=time) “Compared to the 1970’s, today’s overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal-weight individuals,” explains the study’s senior author, Børge G. Nordestgaard, MD, a clinical professor at the University of Copenhagen. But why remains a mystery, he says. “The reason for this change is unknown.” **Health.com**: [15 Eating Habits That Make You Live Longer](http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20922657,00.html?xid=time) Nonetheless, Dr. Nordestgaard cautions people not to get the wrong idea from his research: “Our results should not be interpreted as suggesting that now people can eat as much as they like, or that so-called normal weight individuals should eat more to become overweight,” says Dr. Nordestgaard. “That said, maybe overweight people need not be quite as worried about their weight as before.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/weight-loss/overweight-lower-mortality-risk?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://www.health.com) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4339396/long-life-not-too-heavy-thin/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4339396/long-life-not-too-heavy-thin/"},"headline":"For a Long Life, Don't Be Too Thin Or Too Heavy","datePublished":"2016-05-19T14:00:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:37:14.499Z","description":"'Today’s overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal-weight individuals'","url":"https://time.com/4339396/long-life-not-too-heavy-thin/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8e3a144e3f7bf7d/6988939fa988ca28906b7e50/body-weight-bmi-life-span-link.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chelsey Hamilton / Health.com"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte8e3a144e3f7bf7d/6988939fa988ca28906b7e50/body-weight-bmi-life-span-link.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Broken scales.","caption":"Broken scales.","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4339396/long-life-not-too-heavy-thin/","name":"For a Long Life, Don't Be Too Thin Or Too Heavy"}}]}] ```