Being Overweight is a Good Thing?

Science Daily has an article with the results of a study from Obesity from Statistics Canada, Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University, and McGill University.

Apparently the risk of death from highest to lowest runs:
Underweight
Extremely obese
Obese
Normal weight
Overweight

That's right...being overweight carries the lowest risk of death.

There is a caveat in the article that "Our study only looked at mortality, not at quality of life, and there are many negative consequences associated with obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes."

This is the first (Canadian) study to show that overweight people may live longer than normals.

I knew there were claims that extremely low calorie diets extend lifespans, but this is the first time I've run across someone saying that being fat is good for you too. Then again, correlation does not imply causation.