Millions classed as overweight may have the lowest death risk.

Millions of people in the overweight category have a lower risk of death than those in the healthy range, a new study suggests.

Ideas of what it means to be overweight may need to change after research showed the healthiest size has increased by 3.3 Body Mass Index (BMI) points since the Seventies.

People who have a BMI of 27 – officially classed as overweight – now have the lowest risk of dying from any condition.

The average BMI for both Australian men and women is 27….

[However BMI] can overestimate the danger posed to people with heavy bone structures or large muscle mass, while missing “apple-shaped” people who carry dangerous levels of fat around their middle. Last year a study by Oxford Brookes University found that simply measuring height with string, folding it in half and checking if it can fit comfortably round the waist is a better way of finding if someone has too much body fat.

hat-tip Matthew