If a regular-weight person and an obese person were without access to food, would the obese person potentially survive longer due to their stored fat reserves, or is it not that straightforward?

Question

If a regular-weight person and an obese person were without access to food, would the obese person potentially survive longer due to their stored fat reserves, or is it not that straightforward?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Before the internet was a thing I was taught that everything else being equal those two men would die within hours of each other. No food is no food, meaning no minerals that the body needs to function. The extra weight conferred no advantage.

However, if there were some meager foodstuffs available but not enough to sustain a person, the fat man has a clear advantage and would live longer.

But I am not a doctor and the rando that taught me this could have been a kookburger for all know.