The news isn't all good: Overweight people do have a higher chance of dying from diabetes and kidney disease.

And people who are obese — generally those more than 30 pounds overweight for their height — have a higher risk of death from a variety of ills, including some cancers and heart disease.

So losing weight is the best course of action to protect one's health. It is irresponsible to suggest that living an overweight and inactive life will lead to health.

There are certain advantages...

There is a higher resistance to infection, disease and other illnesses. I don't mean obese people here, just those with a little extra.

There is also the ability to handle illnesses when the do occur. Many times, you can lose a lot of weight from the inability to keep foods down or they run right through without much nutritional remnants. Those with little to lose will be much weaker from the ordeal and have a better chance of the illness escalating rather than getting better. Muscle and bone begin to lose mass in these instances and it it very difficult to regain from there.

There needs to be a balance between too thin and too heavy. the supposed ideal weight charts that I have seen must have been designed by anorexics, It says I should be 185# for my height and frame but when I am under 230#, I feel weak and sickly. As long as I stay around the 230# to 240#, I am in my best health. No sign of diabetes and my cholesterol level is good. If I were 185# as the chart suggests, I would blow away in the wind.

It was when my dad lost a lot of weight, the cancer began to get worse. It wasn't the cancer that caused the weight loss, it was his diet, prescribed by a doctor that allowed the cancer to grow because he was weakened from lack of good nutrition.

Overweight, obese, underweight, too skinny....... Who was the person who linked a person’s height to what they should weigh. I was an athlete in college and I was 5' 8" tall. My weight was a little over 185 lbs. My percent body fat was 4.5%. PER "books" I should have been 150lbs and considered me obese. If I ever fell under 180lbs I was in bed sick. So I agree have more body mass is healthier. Do not agree with putting a number to it. I am also not saying staying up all night eating ice-cream or fatty hamburgers. Eating the right foods and continuously exercising living a healthy life you should not have to worry about one’s weight. Remember muscle is heavier than FAT, seems like most people forget this.

The report came out about a year ago that putting on a little more weight as you age is actual healthy. The key is to be fit and fat. I have never been fat. I am 5'10" and weigh around 190 when dressed. From my research and my age I have estimated that if I gained to around 225 from what I have been reading this would be helpful. From what I have learned is that should I gain up to 225 most likely from the shape of body probably about 25 pounds would go right to my belly. What I have also found out besides the fact that being a little overweight is healthy that gaining the weight should be very slow - it should take say me about 6 months, gaining about 1 pound a week. That way once I do become a little fat (not obese) my body will become acustom and use to the additional weight and I will find it probably very difficult to lose the weight. What this means something to think about once I do become fat most likely I will fat for the rest of my life - this really might not be that bad. There are also other considerations that once I would become fat most likely as I said fat and weight will go into my stomach this I am pretty sure of - I have a 36 inch waist from what I looked at I would probably go up to around 42 to 44 inch waist, which would mean I will have get all new clothes. There are lots of things to consider, but I do believe the extra weight and being a little fat health wise is beneficial, as long as I would remain fit and fat and go to the gym 6 days a week. In all honesty I am leaning as you can probably tell in become fat (not obese).