Swedish researchers have found that what you eat is more important than what you weigh when it comes to predicting health risks.
The researchers from Uppsala University followed 79,000 people over 20 years to understand any link between body mass index (BMI), the Mediterranean diet, and the risk of death.
BMI is often used to gauge people’s health, but the research found that diet plays a much larger role than body weight. Of those people who followed the Mediterranean diet, people who were overweight had the lowest risk of dying. Those classified as obese but who followed the Mediterranean diet did not have a significantly higher risk of death than people with a ‘normal’ BMI.
However, people with a ‘normal’ BMI who did not follow the Mediterranean diet had a higher risk of death than people of any weight who did follow the diet.
The research shows the importance of good nutrition and dietary habits for all people, regardless of their body size.
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