At least, that's apparently how it is in Germany!
Contrary to what was previously assumed, overweight is not increasing the overall death rate in the German population. Matthias Lenz of the Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Natural Sciences of the University of Hamburg and his co-authors present these and other results in the current issue of Deutsches Artzeblatt International (Dtsch Artzebl Int 2009; 106[40]: 641 - 8).
Most Germans are overweight, with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2. About 20% are obese (BMI of 30 or over), with age and gender-related differences. The authors systematically evaluated 42 studies of the relationships between weight, life expectancy, and disease.
