Intentional weight loss is associated with many benefits, including reduced mortality and cardiometabolic and inflammatory risk, as well as improved quality of life. Unintentional weight loss, however, is often a harbinger of future ill-health. Separating these types of weight loss in clinical trials is sometimes difficult and in small trials can produce the 'obesity paradox'.
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Bray, G. The obesity paradox—an artifact of small sample size?. Nat Rev Cardiol 6, 561–562 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2009.140
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2009.140
