Study: Heavier Diabetics Die Sooner

There’s no “obesity paradox” related to death rates for people with diabetes, a new study concludes. Except for smokers, people who were heavier died earlier, the study found. Some small studies have suggested that people who are a little overweight might have a lower death risk. The new study included 11,000 adults with type 2 diabetes. Researchers kept track of them for about 16 years. A body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal. In this study, the lowest BMI, 18.5 to 22.4, was linked with higher death rates than for all groups except the most obese (BMI of 35 or more). But people with a BMI on the higher side of “normal” (22.5 to 24.9) were less likely to die than all other groups. Then researchers looked at the numbers for people who had never smoked and for smokers and ex-smokers.