Prescott HC, et al. - Obesity has been associated with improved short-term mortality following common acute illness, but its relationship with longer-term mortality is unknown. In this current investigation, it was demonstrated that overweight or obese body mass index was related to improved survival after hospitalization for congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and acute myocardial infarction among older Americans. However, this link was observed to be limited to the shorter-term. In addition, conditional on surviving to one year, researchers did not observe a survival advantage associated with excess weight.