Can you be overweight and healthy? The answer is yes- and no. Of course your overall health depends on many risk factors, such as your family history, whether you smoke or drink heavily, your fitness level, where you carry your weight and so on. If being overweight is your only risk factor, than you have more chance of remaining in good health than someone who ticks a lot of ‘risk’ boxes.And there will always be overweight people who reach a hale and hearty old age without losing a pound.

Unfortunately, however, statics show that if you are overweight you are unlikely to be one of those people- they are the exception that proves the rule.Here are five disturbing facts, which come from UK National Health Service - endorsed studies:

* If your BMI is 24 or more, your risk of dying within a 26-year period increases by one per cent for every pound put on between the ages of 30 and 42, and by two per cent for every pound put on between the ages of 50 and 62.

*Deaths linked to obesity, of which there are about 30,000 a year, shorten the life of the deceased by nine years on average.

*Your risk of coronary heart disease doubles at a BMI of over 25, and nearly quardruples at a BMI of 29 or more.

*The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is 40 times greater at a BMI of 35 or more.

*III health linked to obesity is responsible for 18 million days of work a year and costs NHS at least $1500 million a year in treatment.

Why Weight is to Blame:

It is easy to imagine why being overweight can cause certain health problems -breathlessness or pain in weight-bearing joints such as the knees and lower spine.Some medical conditions , however, have a more complex relationship with weight.A BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 is tought to be within the desirable ‘healthy’ range, so, in theory, any weight gain that takes your BMI above 25 is potentially a risk to your health.It is generally accepted though that the risk of serious conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease, rises significantly at a BMI of around 27 or above.

So why worry if you are only a few pounds overweight? The trouble is that extra pounds can have a habit of creeping up on unawares.So if your BMI hovers around the 25 level, it makes sense to keep your weight stable or to lose a few pounds.And, of course, if your BMI is unhealthily high, slimming will quickly bring big benefits.