Abstract: At the turn of the century, life insurance statistics were the indicators of the risks associated with extreme thinness (possible tuberculosis, a leading killer) and later with obesity. While these actuarial figures give some indication of heart disease mortality rates associated with weight extremes, they are not a representative sample. Life insurance companies continue to expound the evils of overweight, although mounting evidence from recent studies indicates high risk only for a very small percentage of extreme cases. The studies not reporting an association between obesity and coronary heart disease include 6 American studies (longshoremen, airline pilots, L.A. civil servants, etc.) and 6 European studies, almost all on men middle-aged or over. The consensus indicates that relative body weight is not a good predictor of death due to coronary heart disease.

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