Same study - different interpretations

"The Honolulu Heart Study¹⁹ showed no association between weight variation and weight loss in healthy nonsmoking men. In the Iowa Women's Health Study,²⁰ large cycles of weight change (loss-gain or gain-loss) were associated with increased mortality, but this was attenuated after adjustment for confounding factors and preexisting disease and exclusion of women with poor or fair health.

In the present study (British Regional Heart Study), the finding that weight change and weight fluctuation (cycling) are not associated with mortality in healthy nonsmokers is consistent with the findings of the Honolulu Heart Study."

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"In the Honolulu Heart Study, 6537 Japanese-American men aged 45 to 68 in 1965 and living in Hawaii, were monitored from 1973 to 1988 during which time there were 1217 deaths. The results are shown in Table 1. It is quite clear that there has been a notable increase in the death rate of those who lost weight. By contrast, those who gained up to 4.5kg had a reduced death rate while those who gained more than that did not experience any increase in mortality rate when compared with those whose weight did not vary(2)."

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"Conclusions. The associations between weight loss or fluctuation and mortality were partially explained by confounding factors and by the presence of preexisting disease. However, weight loss and weight fluctuation were unrelated to death among healthy men who had never smoked. Thus, concern about the health hazards of weight loss and variation may not be applicable to otherwise healthy people. (N Engl J Med 1995;333:686-92.)"

http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199509143331102