I mean shouldn’t the extremes of both end be equally harming to a person? why do skinny/underweight people and fat/overweight people not have the the same amount of health issues?
In: Biology
Even when considering factors such as sex, age, and smoking: low BMI and high BMI both have a higher Hazard Rate than normal BMI. See any of the charts in [this study](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587%2818%2930288-2/fulltext). The Hazard Rate plotted by BMI looks like a U or J shape, meaning being underweight or overweight are both bad for your health.
Also, there is the statistic of “Anorexia Nervosa has the highest death rate of any psychiatric illness (including major depression).” While it isn’t required to be underweight to have Anorexia Nervosa, it is typical. It is incredibly deadly to have this mental disorder, even more deadly than obesity, but there are lots more obese people than people with Anorexia Nervosa, so obesity accounts for a larger share of the total deaths.
This post is a good example of the too-common “ELI5: Why is <false-statement> true?”. Also “ELI5: Why is <my personal experience> a fact of life experienced by everyone?”
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