Being on the heavier side may not be as dangerous as it was in the 1970s, according to a study Tuesday that points to the protective effects of a few extra pounds. The optimum ratio of weight and height — known as body mass index or BMI — is now on the upper side of the healthy range, according to the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). “Compared to the 1970s, today’s overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal weight individuals,” said Borge Nordestgaard, clinical professor at the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital.

Pregnant women who drink artificially sweetened drinks may be more likely to have overweight infants than women who do not, a study suggested on Monday. Researchers found that daily consumption of artificially sweetened beverages was linked to a two-fold higher risk of having an infant who was overweight at age one, compared to women who drank no artificially sweetened beverages at all. “To our knowledge, we provide the first human evidence that maternal consumption of artificial sweeteners during pregnancy may influence infant BMI,” said the study led by Meghan Azad of the University of Manitoba.

By Barbara Goldberg NORWALK, Conn. (Reuters) – Still shunning alcohol because she was breastfeeding her 7-week-old baby, Jessica Hopkins grabbed a 50-pound (23 kg) beer keg with her bare hands and hurled it over a chest-high metal bar. Women like Hopkins, a former jewelry design assistant, are the fastest-growing group of competitors in Strongman, a sport that involves chucking, dragging and hefting tremendously heavy weights. “It’s almost like labor – you have to work through it even though it’s hard,” Hopkins said recently on her first day back at Strongman training since giving birth.