Being Overweight (but not obese) Provides "Cushion" in Motor Vehicle Accidents
Via American Family Physician:
A recent volume of the American Journal of Public Health reports that the best Body Mass Index for a man to survive a motor vehicle accident is around 28, which is overweight but not obese. Having a BMI of less than 22 (normal or underweight) or greater than 35 (30+ is obese) was associated with a greater likelihood of fatality. The study did not find an association between BMI and risk of fatality in women.
I was not able get the entire article, so I am unsure of all the proposed mechanisms of this benefit, but it appears that researchers are attributing this advantage of being overweight to a "cushioning effect". Though it seems obvious that having extra adipose tissue would provide a some protection from mechanical injury, I would also add that there may be a metaphorical "cushion" in terms of having metabolic reserve in the event of a prolonged recovery period from severe injury.
A recent volume of the American Journal of Public Health reports that the best Body Mass Index for a man to survive a motor vehicle accident is around 28, which is overweight but not obese. Having a BMI of less than 22 (normal or underweight) or greater than 35 (30+ is obese) was associated with a greater likelihood of fatality. The study did not find an association between BMI and risk of fatality in women.
I was not able get the entire article, so I am unsure of all the proposed mechanisms of this benefit, but it appears that researchers are attributing this advantage of being overweight to a "cushioning effect". Though it seems obvious that having extra adipose tissue would provide a some protection from mechanical injury, I would also add that there may be a metaphorical "cushion" in terms of having metabolic reserve in the event of a prolonged recovery period from severe injury.
Labels: medicine
posted by Henry at 6/07/2006 10:30:00 AM
1 Comments:
I wonder if there is a relationship between how careless people drive & their weight.
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