Medicine: Weight and Death

The tireless statisticians of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. have figured out that no one should let himself gain weight after the age of 25—if he wants to live his full span. Last October the company published a set of ideal weights for women. Last week’s Statistical Bulletin contained the table for men.

For instance, no matter how old he is, a 5-ft.-9-in. man of small frame may safely weigh from 140 to 151 lb.; medium-frame weight is 149 to 160, large-frame weight is 157 to 170. The old-fashioned tables show a gain of 12 lb. between the ages of 25 and 50. The actuaries say that such gaining is unhealthy.

The statistics on which this conclusion is based are enough to take away a gourmand’s appetite: “Those with 20% overweight show mortality approximately one-third higher than average; those with 30% overweight, approximately one-half higher; those with 50% overweight show mortality practically double that for average weight. . . . The mortality from coronary artery disease and other degenerative heart conditions among overweights is more than 1½ times that of average-weight men. . . . The most striking penalty for overweight is diabetes. The death rate from this disease among men 25% or more overweight [is] eight times as high as among average-weight persons; and as compared with underweights, 13 times as high.”