Exercise / fitness is more important than mere dieting or weight loss - more evidence

Big study confirming something we've known for some time:

McAuley PA, Kokkinos PF, Oliveira RB, et al. Obesity paradox and cardiorespiratory fitness in 12,417 male veterans aged 40 to 70 years. Mayo Clin Proc. 2010 Feb;85(2):115-21. (Original) PMID: 20118386

Compared with highly fit normal-weight men, underweight men with low fitness had the highest (4.5 [3.1-6.6]) and highly fit overweight men the lowest (0.4 [0.3-0.6]) mortality risk of any subgroup. Overweight and obese men with moderate fitness had mortality rates similar to those of the highly fit normal-weight reference group.