The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reiterated that obesity is a major public health threat in the United States, dismissing confusion after a controversial report suggesting that being overweight may not be so bad.

"It is not OK to be overweight. People need to be fit, they need to have a healthy diet, they need to exercise," CDC chief Julie Gerberding told a new conference in Atlanta.

"Obesity and overweight ... have many adverse consequences," she said, including increased risk of heart disease, some cancers, and diabetes.

The CDC chief acknowledged potential flaws in a recent study by the CDC scientists that caused dispute by suggesting that being overweight may not threaten life as much as once thought.

The study, published in April, linked obesity with 25,814 deaths a year in the United States, dramatically lower than the 365,000 deaths estimated just months earlier. It also said the risk of death is 20 percent lower for mildly overweight people in comparison with those who weigh less.

The conclusions have met objections from many scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health, the American Heart Association and the American Cancer Society. They pointed out the study ignored the fact that sick people tend to weigh less because of their health problems, and the study was wrong to include these people.

Gerberding pledged more resources on studying obesity to clarify the issue.

Source: Xinhua